How2Day: Demonstration Ideas for Nuclear Energy

Now you can build your own reactor without creating three-eyed fish. Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
Nuclear energy, like so many other sciences we use today, is a perfect example of military technology put to use for the benefit of all. A nuclear reactor is essentially a pool of water heated to boiling by the energy emitted by nuclear fuel rods. The lid on top of that pool captures the steam coming off the water, sending it to a turbine that spins a generator. Each step in this process lends itself to demonstration.

Electromagnetic energy can be created by the natural decay of nuclear fuel rods or by a microwave oven. You can demonstrate the concept of energy exciting water simply by placing a beaker of water into a microwave and setting the microwave on high. The microwave energy essentially "vibrates" the water molecules in much the same way as decaying nuclear fuel rods, bringing them to a boil and creating steam.

Radio energy acts just like light in many ways, particularly in the sense that its effects are largely line-of-sight. The control rods inside a nuclear reactor don't absorb the core material's radiation so much as they block it, which casts a radiation "shadow" on the water. You can do the same thing in a microwave oven by surrounding your water beaker with lead plates. Use one-inch-wide lead plates with a base to surround the beaker, then record the temperature change in the water when you use more or fewer plates. Just keep the lead plates on the glass tray and at least two inches away from the microwave walls to prevent electrical arcing.

You don't need to use a microwave for this procedure, but you can if you're building a permanent demonstration model. Steam acts as a medium to carry the nuclear fuel rod's energy to a turbine. You can capture the steam energy by fitting a tight lid over your water container and then drilling a 1/8-inch hole in the top. As the water heats up, high-pressure steam will shoot out of the hole, which you can use to spin a toy pin-wheel. Imagine the pin-wheel is attached to an electric motor and that you've just created the energy-generation end of a nuclear reactor.

You can build a permanent demonstrator by combining the systems into one fully-functioning, power-generating unit. Use an old microwave to heat up a sealed glass container full of water. Attach a glass pipette to the top of your container and run it out through a hole drilled through the side of the microwave. Connect the other end of your pipette to a hemispherical wooden housing, which should contain about half of a toy pinwheel. You should drill a hole along the center line of that wooden housing and angle the pipette so that it "blows" on the pinwheel inside. Glue the center hub of that pinwheel to the output shaft of a 13-series electric motor. When the steam pressure spins the turbine (pinwheel), the electric motor will spin and should produce enough power to illuminate a single Christmas-tree light bulb.

How2Day