The Strength and Power of the Atom

The Awesome Power in the Atomic Nucleus

Atom nuclei consist of protons and neutrons. But what is the force that binds together these particles comprising the nucleus? The so-called “strong nuclear force,” the most powerful force that has yet been described by the laws of physics, holds the atomic nuclei together.

This force keeps the protons and neutrons in the nucleus together without dispersing. So powerful is this force that it enables the protons and neutrons in the nucleus to literally adhere to one another, yet keeps the protons and neutrons separate and apart from one another. If this force had any more binding power, the protons and neutrons would combine with one another, and were it any less, they would all spin away and the atom would disintegrate.

When this attractive force in the nucleus is released, the atom is “split” and the awesome power known as nuclear energy results. As the number of protons and neutrons grows, so does the size of the nucleus, as does the magnitude of the force that binds these particles together.

In the larger nuclei, it becomes exceedingly difficult to release this energy that binds the protons and neutrons together. As the particles separate from one another, they attempt to come back together with a greater force, just like a spring. This force is approximately 1038 times greater than gravity—in other words, a hundred billion, billion, billion, billion times greater. So long as it is not interfered with, this energy does no harm. Yet with human intervention, it can assume a power capable of killing millions of people.

The Maintenance of the Force in the Nucleus

This extraordinary force in the atom’s nucleus, sufficiently powerful in the aggregate to endanger the lives of millions, is released by way of two different atomic reactions. The reaction known as fission results from the division or splitting of the atomic nucleus, while fusion is the combining of two separate nuclei under enormous force. In both types of reaction, a tremendous quantity of energy is released.

During early experiments with fission, scientists bombarded the nucleus of uranium-235 with neutrons at very high speed—and found themselves confronted by a most interesting state of affairs. After the neutron had been absorbed by the uranium atom’s nucleus, it became highly unstable. There was now a difference in the numbers of protons and neutrons in the nucleus, creating an imbalance. Therefore, to resolve that imbalance, the nucleus begins splitting apart, emitting a specific level of energy as well as the particles contained within it, at very high speeds.

Scientists aimed the moving neutron in such a way as to strike one of the nuclei in the uranium atoms. All that’s required is for one of the atomic nuclei in that mass of uranium-235 to split asunder. During such splitting, each nucleus releases an average of two or three neutrons, which strike other nuclei in turn, initiating a chain reaction by striking other uranium nuclei.

Each newly split uranium nucleus behaves just like the first one. A series of nuclear splits or fissions thus takes place. And since a very large number of uranium nuclei are split, an extraordinary level of energy is released as a result.

It is this splitting of the U-235 nuclei that led to the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, costing the lives of tens of thousands of civilians. But since the Earth, the entire atmosphere and our very bodies all consist of atoms, what prevents all these atoms from entering into just such a reaction? What prevents catastrophes like those at Hiroshima and Nagasaki taking place anywhere, at any time?

Bearing in mind that some 100 trillion atoms can fit onto the head of a pin, you can easily appreciate how any impairment to the stable structure of one single atom could lead to a similar chain reaction. That being the case, what prevents such a nuclear reaction that could very quickly obliterate the whole universe?

Neutrons have been created in such a way that when moving about in a free state in nature—that is, independent of an atomic nucleus—they undergo a process known as beta decay. Because of this, one seldom encounters a free neutron in nature, and then only for a very limited duration. For that reason, the neutrons to be used in nuclear reactions are released by artificial means.

God, the Creator of this flawless order, the Creator of the entire universe, has perfected all things. As revealed in verse 100 of Surah Yusuf, “... My Lord is Subtle in what He wills. He is indeed All-Knowing and All-Wise.” God has created the atom together with the awesome power contained within it, and He keeps that force under control in an extraordinary way. Our Lord has created the atom with a system that can never go awry in its natural state. Although everything in the universe is eventually exposed to decay, the atom maintains its solidity. The nucleus and the electrons that revolve around it at such an unimaginable speed show us this sound creation and matchless dominion of God’s.