Atomic fission simulation with ping pong balls

Surprisingly simple way to demonstrate the principals of a nuclear fission chain reaction using classic mouse traps and ping pong balls. You can use as few as 80 mouse traps and 160 ping pong balls to create a dynamic display which takes only a short time to set up. It's a great classroom lab exercise or an activity for groups. The more time you have the bigger the set up you can create. This activity can be used to explain many nuclear concepts such as fission, critical mass, chain reaction, chain reaction initiation, neutron deflectors and over all atomic bomb construction. And of course knowing how to set a mouse trap is a useful life skill.