What does my science textbook mean when it says Neutrons can penetrate and disintegrate atoms with extraordinary power?

Answer 1

A neutron can be sent at the nucleus of an atom and make it in without much trouble (no charge shield will keep it out). If it does, the collision will tend to break the nucleus into parts, much like a cue ball breaking a racked set of pool balls at the start of a game.

Answer 2

Neutrons, even slow ones, can penetrate the nuclei of atoms. Certain nuclei - just a few - will disintegrate into large fragments when this happens. The separation of large numbers of protons releases an enormous amount of nuclear binding energy - an atomic bomb. This is the "Extraordinary power".
It is hard to hit a nucleus with ANY particle simply because nuclei are so small. The whole point of the Rutherford experiment was that the alpha particles either hit or missed the nucleus - they don't get deflected to varying amounts.

Answer 3

It is distorting the truth. It should say:

Neutrons have no charge and therefore can easily penetrate into an atom's nucleus. If the neutron is then absorbed inside the nucleus, it may make the nucleus unstable causing the nucleus to split.

Answer 4

It means that if you shoot a neutron at an atom you're likely to hit something and cause damage. (This is in contrast to shooting with other particles -- like protons, electrons, or alpha particles -- which are not likely to hit anything because they get deflected by electric charges, and in the case of electrons because they are not massive enough to do any damage.)

Answer 5

The extraordinary power thing makes no sense

Answer 6

I would be guessing, but it might be trying to say that neutrons can penetrate and disintegrate atoms with extraordinary power. I could be wrong about this, it might actually be trying say something about how to drive a car.