ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Meitner–Hupfeld effect

Okay kiddo, do you know what an atom is? It's like a tiny little ball that makes up everything in the world. Now, there are some really tiny things inside the atom called protons and neutrons. They stick together in the middle of the atom in something called the nucleus.

Now, back in the old days, scientists thought that the nucleus was really stable and nothing could break it apart. But then, a lady scientist named Lise Meitner and a fellow scientist named Otto Hupfeld discovered something really cool. They found out that if you shoot tiny particles called neutrons at the nucleus, it can actually split apart into smaller parts!

This splitting apart is called nuclear fission. It releases a lot of energy and is used to power things like nuclear power plants. But this is where things get even cooler, Meitner and Hupfeld also discovered that the particles that come out of the splitting apart nucleus weigh less than the original. This is called the Meitner-Hupfeld effect.

The Meitner-Hupfeld effect may sound a bit tricky, but it's actually really important because it helped us understand more about how atoms work and even led to the development of some really important things like nuclear energy. So, even though it might seem complicated at first, it's really just a super interesting discovery made by two really smart scientists!