Kinetic Energy

The kinetic energy of an object is the energy which it possesses due to its motion. It is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its stated velocity. Having gained this energy during its acceleration, the body maintains this kinetic energy unless its speed changes. The same amount of work is done by the body in decelerating from its current speed to a state of...

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Mechanical Energy

Mechanical Energy is the sum total of both Potential Energy and Kinetic Energy present in a mechanical system. In a mechanical system the amount of mechanical energy is a constant. This equilibrium is only possible only in the presence of conservative forces like gravity and absence of non conservative forces like friction. Friction forces a body to use more energy to over come it and thus the energy is lost in the form of heat. More precisely in elastic...

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Special article: Di-proton

A diproton (or helium-2, symbol 2He) is a hypothetical isotope of helium nucleus consisting of two protons and no neutrons, and is predicted to be less stable than 5He. Diprotons are not stable; this is due to spin-spin interactions in the nuclear force, and the Pauli exclusion principle, which forces the two protons to have anti-aligned spins and gives the diproton a negative binding energy. In 2000, physicists first observed a new type of radioactive decay in which a nucleus emits...

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Resonance of waves

A Wave has characteristic features like amplitude, frequency etc.. Now the amplitude of a wave can be increased without increasing the frequency or the frequency can be increased without increasing the amplitude. The increase in amplitude with the increase in frequency is resonance(not the actual definition). Resonance occurs when the frequencies of two bodies match. Examples:  When a vibrating tuning fork is kept on a surface of  wood, we hear a loud sound. This is because of resonance. The amplitude of the fork increases suddenly...

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Sound

Sound is a form of energy. It is a mechanical wave. It is caused by the vibrations of the particles. Each time a particle vibrates, its vibration excites our ear and the nerve send impulses to our brain and the brain senses it. Sound propagates in two ways. 1) as a longitudinal wave and 2) as a transverse wave. Waves: Waves are periodic disturbances in a medium. Energy is carried from one place to another as waves. Thats ones reason waves...

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Radioactivity

Radioactivity is the emission of radiations from the nucleus of a radioactive atom. It occurs due to the unstable nucleus of the atom. The nucleus of an atom becomes unstable when the ratio of neutrons to protons is greater than 1.5. Types of radioactivity:  Alpha Decay Alpha Decay:In an Alpha Decay, the radioactive element emits an alpha particle 'α' or simply a  42He2+. This results in the decrease ofatomic...

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Utilizing the fission energy: Nuclear Reactor

The main use of Nuclear Fission process is in the nuclear reactors. In the nuclear reactors, the heat energy released is utilized and converted into electrical energy. Nuclear Reactors produce energy through controlled fission chain reaction. The process is explained below. The diagram given here shows the internal part of the nuclear reactor. Its main constituents are  Containment cell: A cell where the nuclear fuel is kept and is tightly...

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Nuclear Reactions: Fusion

 When two nuclei are forced into one another, they repel due to electrostatic repulsion between two protons. But when some energy is provided to the nuclei, then the nuclei are able to fuse with each other. The process is called as the nuclear fusion(fusion of nuclei). Thus new elements are formed.In the process, a heavy nucleus, energy and a neutron(usually) is released. Main uses of nuclear fusion are electric generation...

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Nuclear Reactions: Fission

The nucleus of any atom is very unstable. It is due to the presence of neutrons in the nucleus that it becomes very unstable. There are other particles other than neutron and proton in the nucleus. One of those are the neutrinos. These are particles which are responsible for the stable form of the nucleus. Neutrinos are affected only by the weak nuclear forces.  Thus due to the unstable form of the nucleus,...

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Nucleus

Nucleus is the center of an atom. It is the most dense part of an atom. Nucleus is made of nucleus mainly consisting of neutrons and protons. Almost all of the mass of the nucleus is due to the mass of the nucleus and the electrons contribute only to a part of the atomic mass. Only the nucleus of the Hydrogen atom does not contain neutrons. Rutherford's experiment led to the discovery of nucleus. The nucleus of an atom is highly unstable....

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