The Questions I Wish I Had Asked in School From Oppenheimer to Atoms, Einstein, and the Nature of Reality
A Journey from Water to Einstein Introduction Recently, while watching Oppenheimer , I found myself asking questions that I had never truly understood in school. Not exam questions. Real questions. Questions like: What is an atom ? Why is uranium used in atomic bombs? Why not iron ? What is nuclear energy ? What does E = mc² actually mean? Why is water H₂O? Why do atoms join together? What is relativity ? Why is the speed of light special? What surprised me most was that every answer led to another question. This article is the story of that journey. Chapter 1: What Is Matter? Look around you. Everything you see is matter. Water Air Iron Gold Trees Animals Your body Scientists discovered that all matter is made of tiny building blocks called atoms . Think of atoms as the LEGO bricks of the universe. Different combinations of these tiny building blocks create everything around us. Chapter 2: What Is an Atom? An atom has three main parts: Protons Neutrons Electrons Imagine a tiny solar...