In a mass of pure natural uranium, the number and energy of the neutrons being released through natural decay are too low to cause appreciable fission events in the few 235U atoms present. In order to increase the rate of neutron capture to the point where a chain reaction can occur, known as criticality, the system has to be modified. In most cases, the fuel mass is separated into a large number of smaller "fuel pellets" and then surrounded by some form of neutron moderator that will slow the neutrons, thereby increasing the chance that the neutrons will cause fission in 235U in other pellets. Often the simplest moderator to use is normal water; when a neutron collides with a water molecule it transfers some of its energy to it, increasing the temperature of the water and slowing the neutron.