First Children Encyclopedia

229

The mighty atom

When the nucleus of an atom is split, it

releases a huge amount of energy. Nuclear

bombs use this “atomic energy” to create

huge explosions. Nuclear power stations

use the energy to produce electricity.

Amazing atoms

There are about 5 sextillion (5,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000).

Big molecules

In natural substances like

vegetable oil, the atoms are

often joined in chains to

make very large molecules.

The molecules in sunflower

oil contain 50 atoms each.

Sunflower oil comes from

the seeds that grow in the

middle of a sunflower.

Oxygen atom

Hydrogen atom Carbon atom

An atom is mostly

empty space. If an atom

were the size of a sports

stadium, the nucleus would

be the size of a marble

in the middle.

The explosion

of a nuclear

bomb can create

a spectacular

“mushroom

(^) cloud”.
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