Basic Quantum Physics for 9 year olds

Note from mum: Jack has been saying to everyone that he wants to be a quantum physics scientist. So this week's assignment is a preparation to his ambitious dream. Frist Jack had to try to understand the basic concept of the subject. Then he has to explain it to a pupil 2 years younger than him (9-year-old). So he needs to explain the subject in simple sentences. Andy specified that Jack should not use words more than 3 syllables unless it is a name. Any difficult terminology should be explained in a bracket with in a simple sentence.

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Basic Quantum Physics for 9 year olds






The Big Bang

The Big Bang happened from the remains of other universes which were destroyed by a black hole. According to the Big Bang model, the universe grew from an extremely dense and hot state and still grows today. A common and useful resemblance explains that space is expanding, carrying galaxies with it, like raisins in a rising loaf of bread. Just after a few bits of a second after the Big Bang, quarks and gluons roamed free in a blazing hot jumble of mater: a quark-gluon plasma. But then the plasma quickly cooled, and the quarks and gluon formed more familiar particles such as neutrons and protons which the formed atoms. The quark-gluon plasma reduced and disappeared. The universe was just too cool for the quark-gluon plasma, just as the Earths surface is too cool for a puddle of molten iron.

Particle Accelerators
Scientists have begun to re-create the conditions of the first few bits of a second of the universe. They did this by speeding up heavy nuclei (plural nucleus which is the centre of a particle) at 99.99% of the speed of light and slamming them together. This is achieved by a machine called a particle accelerator(a machine which speeds up particles); CERN’s, a french group of scientists based in Geneva, old accelerator is called the LEP, Large Electron-Proton Collider, which is now being replaced by the LHC, Large Hadron Collider, due to open in late May 2008.

Sub-Atomic Particles
Before we begin, a sub-atomic particle is a particle which either forms an atom or is smaller than one. All of matter is made from atoms which in turn are made from protons, neutrons and electrons. The proton and electron have a positive charge whilst the Neutron has a negative charge. A proton or a neutron are usually the nucleus of an atom and so are classed as nucleons, particles which forms the nucleus of an atom. An electron shell is either a group of electrons or, very rarely, an electron, which orbits and determines what element that atom creates. The number of protons and neutrons also determine the element.

Nuclear Weapons
The nuclear weapon we are going to look at produces their explosive energy, which makes them explode, through nuclear fission alone. These are known as atomic bombs, A-bomb or fission bombs. In fission weapons, a group of fissile (improved uranium or plutonium) is gathered into a supercritical mass, the amount of material needed to start a growing nuclear chain reaction, either by shooting one piece of material into another (known as the "gun" method), or by compressing a sphere of material using explosive chemicals to many times its original density (the "implosion" method).