[Boomer]

Originally posted by MicroPsycho

whoa...imagine spotting a fighter waiting inambush behind one, being all distorted by the ice

[creepy music]Or a Lucifer, frozen in a solid chunk of ice.[\creepy music]

Why are asteroids explosive in freespace anyways?

Maybe they're all made of solid Plutonium.

[Kazan]

plutonium isn't explosive in the conventional manner IIRC

[you only trigger a nuclear fission reaction by compressing unstable large-atoms enough to make it go supercritical - being blow apart by fs2-ship-guns would decrease it's likelyhood to go boom from a nuclear reaction]

[Carl]

Originally posted by FireCrack
Why are asteroids explosive in freespace anyways?

The lasers/missiles heat the asteroid rapidly causing it to explode.

[Boomer]

Originally posted by Kazan
plutonium isn't explosive in the conventional manner IIRC

[you only trigger a nuclear fission reaction by compressing unstable large-atoms enough to make it go supercritical - being blow apart by fs2-ship-guns would decrease it's likelyhood to go boom from a nuclear reaction]

NOTE:  Not ment to degenerate into a discussion of FreeSpace Weapon Physics!  NO RANTING!

The impact of the weapons is significant enough to cause a chain reaction.  We have the mass many times over required for criticality.  We only need a small amount to go critical to cause a chain reaction.  Throw lots o energy oriented in one direction at the material, and you get linear compression, like pressing a finger into a sponge, except plutonium doesn't change shape.  So a small fission starts, and, Boom.

Oh, and it was a joke, Plutonium doesn't even occur naturally.

[Kazan]

i believe plutonium occurs naturally - just not in large quantities

[karajorma]

Originally posted by Kazan
i believe plutonium occurs naturally - just not in large quantities

Yep. Almost completely man made. You generally need a fast breeder reactor to make it in the first place and natural ones tend to be rare on Earth

Notice I said rare and not non existant  BTW  

[Kazan]

and rare on earth

[karajorma]

I'd imagine it would be pretty rare anywhere to be honest

[MicroPsycho]

asteroids in FS explode becaus ethe engine lacks the capabilities for it to break apart with dust/particle or to blow chunks off and an asteroid that just falls apart would be boring

[Turambar]

it lacked the capabilities, with enough nagging from people like us, anything is possible!

[Boomer]

Originally posted by Kazan
i believe plutonium occurs naturally - just not in large quantities

Now this one I can back up with solid proof!

The heaviest naturally occuring element in the known universe, is uranium.  Plutonium is not formed unless run through a controlled and mediated fission reaction.

So unless breeder reactors evolve in some godforsaken corner of the universe, Plutonium is listed as a man made element along with all other elements with an atomic number greater than 92.

And besides, nuclear fission, (in the modern sense) can only occur with a massive input of energy which again is typically only derived from the fruits of man.  Fission is thermodynamically undesirable, so as a natural phenomena is quite rare.

And in reference to above statement, please don't confuse the process of Nuclear Fission with natural radioactive decay.

[Kazan]

i know my radioactive processes very well - i simply thought uranium had a higher atomic mass and higher proton count that plutonium

looks like Pu is 1 neutron heavier than U - so i'm assuming it goes through two beta-decays and capturing one neutron

[karajorma]

Originally posted by Boomer
Now this one I can back up with solid proof!

But I can shoot it down with even more solid proof. You'd have done well to ask me why I was so sure that natural nuclear reactors were rare instead of saying that they were non-existant

Originally posted by Boomer
The heaviest naturally occuring element in the known universe, is uranium.  Plutonium is not formed unless run through a controlled and mediated fission reaction.

Wrong. Uranium can naturally form plutonium at a very slow rate by neutron capture followed by beta decay. Traces of plutonium are found in uranium ores. It also exists as the product of supernovae. In both cases the amount is very, very small though which is why plutonium was discovered before it was isolated.

Originally posted by Boomer
So unless breeder reactors evolve in some godforsaken corner of the universe, Plutonium is listed as a man made element along with all other elements with an atomic number greater than 92.

We don't need to look in some godforsaken corner. There's at least one on Earth. Read up on the Oklo natural nuclear reactor. It's pretty interesting, Especially the link at the bottom with a comparision to man-made reactors

[Unknown Target]

You know what would be cool? If the coders implemented a way to hide behind asteroids

[FireCrack]

Originally posted by Kazan
i know my radioactive processes very well - i simply thought uranium had a higher atomic mass and higher proton count that plutonium

looks like Pu is 1 neutron heavier than U - so i'm assuming it goes through two beta-decays and capturing one neutron

You mean ~ 2 protons and 4 neutrons heavier...6 atomic mass units heavier (on average) U doesnt decay into Pu in any standard reaction IIRC, the Pu form breeder reactors comes from U238 (nonreacting, it's used kinda like a sheilding) absorbing excess neutrons from the reaction, then undergoing beta decay to turn some of those into protons.

[karajorma]

Plutonium 239 is the one used in bombs and as you can see that's obviously one mass unit heavier than uranium 238.

As for natural formation I already mentioned a few further up

[Kazan]

P239 and U238 are the ones on the Periodic table too - which means they're the most abundant isotopes