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cranium
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What else can Uranium be used for?
Uranium and other radioactive elements are already used for:
clocks
production of energy
space travel
bombs
medical imaging
cancer treatment
smoke detectors
I think that uranium can also be used for:
super-fast computers
engineering atoms (they emit electrons and other particles, so those particles could be bound with others)
Microwaves could propel the particles which would alot for spacecraft that are even faster.
I will list more uses later, and I will also have an equation soon. What do you think?
[Edited on 13-8-2006 by cranium]
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fescho
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don't you know what processes are under way in that smoke detectors please?
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unionised
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"
I think that uranium can also be used for:
super-fast computers
"
Why do you think that?
Do you have some theoretical basis for it, or are you just assuming that radioactive things are "magic"?
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not_important
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| Quote: | Originally posted by unionised
"
I think that uranium can also be used for:
super-fast computers
"
Why do you think that?
Do you have some theoretical basis for it, or are you just assuming that radioactive things are "magic"? |
Spiderman isn't proof?
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The_Davster
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I suppose uranium intermetallic compounds *could* be used in computers as semiconductors or superconductors.
That is the sort of research going on in the group I work in.
IMO The risks outweigh the benifits here.
[Edited on 13-8-2006 by rogue chemist]
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12AX7
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I heard of a UO2 transistor, but that's a far cry from highspeed semiconductors. At the moment, III-V and strained Si-Ge type semiconductors appear
to be the fastest (and some tunnel junctions are reaching the IR range).
Tim
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cranium
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The super-fast computer would work somewhat like an atomic clock. The radioactive element would emit energy, and the particles would be counted. The
computer would be programmed in conjunction with the particle emissions to do calculations based on that. The computer would be super-fast, extremely
accurate, and great for genetics research because of the particle emission patterns. I was not thinking along the lines of semiconductors.
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Nick F
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What on earth are you talking about..?
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Marvin
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Nuclear decay is a random process, it therefore has no possabilities for computation.
Uranium can be used for dating, but I think the term 'clock' is pushing it rather too far.
Unless you mean the heavy weight on the end of a pendulum.
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Jdurg
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As mentioned in the post above mine, the process of radioactive decay is completely random. It may seem non-random based upon the large scale samples
that we typically encounter, but in all reality it is random. Put ten atoms up in a line and you can say that in one half-life five of them will have
decayed, but that is not always true. A half-life is like a batting average. It tells you what may happen in a certain period of time, but it is not
without errors.
In addition, once the atom decays it will create another radioactive atom. This will completely throw apart any type of prediction as now you have
another random decay series in place. Basically put, you cannot predict nuclear decay over a short timescale which is what would be needed to perform
calculations.
\"A real fart is beefy, has a density greater than or equal to the air surrounding it, consists of the unmistakable scent of broccoli, and usually
requires wiping afterwards.\"
http://maddox.xmission.com. |
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franklyn
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My favorite use is the 120 mm A.P.D.S.F.S. round
( Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot Fire Starting )
One shot and tanks are magically rendered inert.
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not_important
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Counting is only a small part of computing. The core of computing is logic, Boolean logic in current machines. "All of my inputs are true, so my
output is true", "some of my inputs are true, so my output is true", and "my input is true, so my output is false" (actually you only need one of the
first two, you can use one of them and the NOT function to create the other).
If you can make uranium atoms do that, then you can build computers. But you have to make the functionality repeatable, a computer that destroys its
wiring every time you use it can be difficult to program.
Tossing random input at a computer is not a good way to get meaningful output, unless what you are after is a measurement of randomness. It's not
noted for extremely accurate resumts.
Or are you talking about quantum computing?
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unionised
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While I don't agrre with Franklyn's "enthusiasm" for DU weapons I do accept that they work.
OTOH, while I can have some sympathy with Cranium's enthusiasm, I can't see something that has a 50:50 chance of doing nothing for roughly the age of
the earth being involved in a super fast anything.
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pantone159
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| Quote: | Originally posted by franklyn
My favorite use is the 120 mm A.P.D.S.F.S. round
( Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot Fire Starting )
One shot and tanks are magically rendered inert.
. |
F.S. is 'fin-stabilized', I think. Therefore, the tank barrel does not need to be rifled. (This would be counter-productive with finned
projectiles.)
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pantone159
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| Quote: | Originally posted by unionised
While I don't agrre with Franklyn's "enthusiasm" for DU weapons I do accept that they work.
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I am also not 'enthusiastic', in fact I think the world world be a better place if DU munitions were outlawed, but I have to agree that the U element
sample I'd most like to get is a uranium APFSDS penetrator.
Fat chance, though. I promise I won't try and fire it from a tank, though.
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JohnWW
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Uranium, because it has a density of about 19 gm/cc, can be used as a heavier-than-lead ballast weight in the keels of high-performance yachts. Also,
it may have some use in permanent magnets, as I understand that it is ferromagnetic, or is at least so in alloys with other ferromagnetic metals.
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Pyrovus
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For many years uranium was used to impart a nice fluorescent green colour to glass.
There's a picture of vase with glass containing uranium here:
http://www.webelements.com/webelements/elements/text/U/key.h...
Never accept that which can be changed.
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ethan_c
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This thread won't be interesting until someone gives an OTC source for the U metal to try and incorporate into 'superfast computers' and 'engineering
atoms'.
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unionised
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IIRC one of the reagents for measuring sodium in slution was based on uranium. Notwithstanding the assertion that all Na salts are soluble and nearly
all acetates are too, sodium dizinc diuranyl acetate has a low enough solubility that it can precipitate Na from solution. (The Mg compound might work
too; I'm not sure)
I think some uranium compounds used to get used in photography too.
Perhaps the most ironic use of depleted uranium is as radiation shielding; it's denser than lead and has a higher atomic number so it's more
effective.
The alphas that the uranium makes can be stopped with a layer of aluminium foil.
I think we have done uranium to death now.
Can we see what we can make of
"Microwaves could propel the particles which would alot for spacecraft that are even faster.".
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Mr_Benito_Mussolini
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Depleted uranium is still used for shielding in cobalt radiotherapy units.
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IrC
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Ballast in aircraft. OTC for DU is United Nuclear.
Myself, I find it does two things at once. I keep a bottle nicely marked sitting on the shelf right in front of me. People freak out when they spy it.
This does two things. Start neat conversations, and gets rid of the dipshits I don't want around as their paranoia gets the better of them. So people
who do know and are interested talk about it, and people who are stupid (which I don't want around anyway) usually get freaked out and leave.
I call it my miracle bottle. Works wonders without ever actually doing anything at all (other than just sit there). If I can only figure out what to
use the other two bottles for, they just sit in the dark in a box all lonely.
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Fleaker
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| Quote: | Originally posted by JohnWW
Uranium, because it has a density of about 19 gm/cc, can be used as a heavier-than-lead ballast weight in the keels of high-performance yachts.
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Ah but I think tungsten would be far more useful and less expensive since it has a similar density (actually I think it is that of Au, 19.3 g/cc)
Tungsten is also used as radiation shielding.
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cranium
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I am thinking of sort of a quantum computer.
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Quantum
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| Quote: |
The super-fast computer would work somewhat like an atomic clock. The radioactive element would emit energy, and the particles would be counted. The
computer would be programmed in conjunction with the particle emissions to do calculations based on that. The computer would be super-fast, extremely
accurate, and great for genetics research because of the particle emission patterns. I was not thinking along the lines of semiconductors.
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This is coming from the same guy that is worried about the "chlorine" from a few mouthfuls of water in a pool......(Someone from totse perhaps)
But talking about real uses of U - sabot KE penetrating rods. As they impact the metal apparently is "self shapening" meaning it fragments
sort of like flint and of course it is pyrophoric.
Perhaps bringing 2 sub critical half spheres together could be used to bombard something with intense radiation - so long as it isn't yourself.
What if, what is isn\'t true?
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ethan_c
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Fleaker
| Quote: | Originally posted by JohnWW
Uranium, because it has a density of about 19 gm/cc, can be used as a heavier-than-lead ballast weight in the keels of high-performance yachts.
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Ah but I think tungsten would be far more useful and less expensive since it has a similar density (actually I think it is that of Au, 19.3 g/cc)
Tungsten is also used as radiation shielding. |
We have a huge excess of DU from the nuclear power/weapons manufacturing industry, just sitting around. Tungsten we buy mostly from China.
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