2 NEUTRONS FROM 1
To the tune of "2 become 1" by the Spice Girls

A tribute (no, no, not attributed) to Lise Meitner, the mother of all daughter nuclides.
She meitner like it but hey, year 11 need help with this.

 
How can I keep burning coal
If making electricity’s my goal?
I need nuclear power, nuclear power.
Uranium’s the one that’s able,
Its nucleus is so unstable,
To nuclear fission with daughter emission.

And all we need’s a little neutron baby.
(Split it up, split it up)
‘Cause if we hit it right, then 2 come from 1.

I need your heat like the coal I used to burn before,
(Wanna make steam from ya baby)
To turn my turbine round, really make it roar,
(Wanna make steam from ya baby)
Set my magnet free…
We’ll make electricity.


As 235, I know there’s hope.
You’re the perfect isotope:
With your mass defect, the energy’s perfect.
As the neutron makes its impact,
New elements are formed, in fact
Two daughters (you’ve no sons), barium, krypton.

And all we need’s a little neutron baby.
(Split ‘em up, split ‘em up)
Cause if we hit it right, 2 neutrons from 1.

I need your heat ‘cause the fossil fuels will be no more,
(Gotta make steam from ya baby)
To turn my turbine round, really make it roar,
(Gotta make steam from ya baby)
My magnet must spin free
To make electricity.

Instrumental

And all we need’s a few control rods baby.
(They’re made from - boron)
‘Cause if we get it wrong, we’ll make atom bombs.

I need your heat like the coal I used to burn before,
(Wanna make steam from ya baby)
To turn my turbine round, spin it more and more,
(Wanna make steam from ya baby)
I need your heat cause the fossil fuels will be no more,
(Wanna make steam from ya baby)
To turn my turbine round, really make it roar,
(Wanna make steam from ya baby)
Set my magnet free…
We’ll make electricity.

Set my rotor free…
We’ll make electricity
My stator has to be…
Full of electricity
That’s how it has to be.

C Downey, January 2001