Control Your Own Nuclear Reactor
Not all experiments can be completed in the laboratory. Greenhead College Physics Department is very well equipped, but unfortunately it does not have its own nuclear reactor! This computer simulation will allow you to experiment with factors that affect a nuclear reactor.
1) Use the mouse to go up to the top tool bar and click on ACTION a drop down menu appears, now click on RESET. This will clear any changes that previous groups made.
2) Look for the control labeled SIZE it has a green number 14 above it. Click on the arrow pointing to the left and the green number will decrease set this number to 10.000
3) Now reduce the spacing of the fuel rods in the same way until the green spacing number shows 1.100
Your screen should
now look like this:
4) Up at the top towards the left of the screen click on the >> symbol and a neutron will be released into the reactor.
5) The graph on the right is a display of the number of neutrons in the reactor if this line is increasing too steeply the reactor will be out of control and will eventually explode.
Your task is to try to control the reactor by using the control rod. A blue line will appear in the reactor. However you must aim for the maximum number of neutrons (at least 400 neutrons) to make the reactor the most efficient.
Keep adjusting
the control rod until you can maintain a flat line graph
with the number of neutrons staying above 400.
If you
wish to start again, click on the stop button ¨ twice until the dot below
turns green. Then click on >> to start again. If the reactor itself
turns red then you have achieved meltdown and you will be banished to
Siberia.
Complete the questions below:
The number of times I 'achieved' meltdown was ________ (You should aim for the lowest number!!!)
I managed to maintain a stable reactor. The number of neutrons was about ______ (Read the number from the red display top left).
One you have completed the above you may experiment with the size and the spacing. For instance what happens if you reduce the spacing of the fuel rods even further? How about trying to make the reactor larger, will you achieve a higher number of neutrons? Remember, with computer simulations you cannot break the computer and should your reactor reach meltdown the only thing hurt may be your pride!
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