dvo 2

Question 1

Inertial confinement fusion

Answer 1

Using high-power lasers to heat and compress a pellet of

deuterium and tritium to start fusion; utilized by the NIF

Question 2

K-capture

Answer 2

Form of electron capture that absorbs it from the “K” shell (the shell closest to the nucleus)

Question 3

Maxwell’s theory of

electromagnetism

Answer 3

Description of light as a wave made up of oscillating electric and
magnetic fields

Question 4

Refraction

Answer 4

Light bending around narrow apertures or corners

Question 5

diffraction

Answer 5

the process by which a beam of light or other system of waves is spread out as a result of passing through a narrow aperture or across an edge, typically accompanied by interference between the wave forms produced

Question 6

Solar wind

Answer 6

Collection of low mass particles ejected by the Sun

Question 7

Spontaneous emission

Answer 7

An atom releasing a photon in a random direction

Question 8

Stimulated emission

Answer 8

Causing atom to transition to a lower energy level and release a
photon; used in lasers

Question 9

B Reactor

Answer 9

First plutonium-generating reactor; located at Hanford Engineer
Works

Question 10

Y-12

Answer 10

Electromagnetic separation plant at Oak Ridge; second manmade
nuclear reactor

Question 11

X-10

Answer 11

Graphite reactor at Oak Ridge

Question 12

Tsar Bomba

Answer 12

Most powerful nuclear weapon detonated; a hydrogen bomb; as

powerful as 50 million tons of TNT

Question 13

Trinity Bomb

Answer 13

First nuclear weapon ever detonated; implosion-type

Question 14

Transmission electron

microscope

Answer 14

Device which relies on the wave properties of electrons to achieve
very fine image resolutions; accelerates electrons to 100 keV; has a
resolution on the order of 0.0037 nm

Question 15

Thin Man

Answer 15

Gun-type plutonium fission bomb; abandoned due to poor quality
of available plutonium

Question 16

Thermonuclear weapon

Answer 16

Nuclear weapon which uses a fission bomb to trigger a

thermonuclear explosion

Question 17

Scintillation counter

Answer 17

Radiation detector; relies on NaI crystal and a photomultiplier
tube; can determine the energy of emitted radiation

Question 18

Proportional counters

Answer 18

Sophisticated form of Geiger counters; measures energy of

radiation

Question 19

Pressurized water reactor

Answer 19

Reactor which uses a separate cooling loop of water to produce
steam; common in the United States; prevents fuel leakage

Question 20

Particle in a box

Answer 20

Physics model which describes an energized particle trapped in a
1 dimensional space bounded by infinitely high potential walls

Question 21

Magnetic separation

enrichment

Answer 21

Uses a magnetic field to separate uranium-235 and uranium-238

Question 22

Little Boy

Answer 22

Uranium gun-type nuclear weapon; dropped on Hiroshima

Question 23

National Ignition Facility

Answer 23

Largest ICF device in the world; at Lawrence Livermore National
Labs in California; uses lasers to compress a hydrogen pellet

Question 24

Large Hadron Collider at

CERN

Answer 24

Advanced particle accelerator capable of accelerating particles to
energies greater than 1 TeV

Question 25

K-25

Answer 25

Gaseous diffusion plant at Oak Ridge; one of the largest singleroofed
buildings in the world

Question 26

ITER

Answer 26

World’s largest experimental fusion reactor; funded by 7 countries

Question 27

Gun-type

Answer 27

Detonation mechanism where two pieces of fuel are shot together

Question 28

Boiling water reactor

Answer 28

Reactor using water as moderator, coolant, and source of steam

Question 29

breeder reactor

Answer 29

Reactor producing useful fissile material, plutonium-239

Question 30

Control rod

Answer 30

Component of a nuclear reactor; absorbs neutrons and regulates
the speed of the chain reaction

Question 31

EBR-1 Reactor

Answer 31

First reactor to generate electricity in 1951; located in Idaho,

Question 32

Fat Man

Answer 32

Plutonium implosion nuclear weapon; dropped on Nagasaki

Question 33

Gas centrifuge

Answer 33

Uses rapidly rotating cylinder to separate uranium-235 from

uranium-238

Question 34

Gas diffusion enrichment

Answer 34

Uses semi-permeable membranes to separate uranium-235 from

uranium-238

Question 35

Generation IV reactor

Answer 35

Next generation nuclear reactor design; minimizes waste,

enhances safety, and prevents nuclear proliferation