In physics, fission is the process in which a heavy, unstable element is split into two lighter elements by bombarding it with a small particle. Some of the energy that was binding the element's nucleus together is then released, along with a third, tiny particle that is released as well. The tiny particle then collides with another of the heavy elements, causing it to split as well, emitting another particle which collides with another heavy element, and so on. This is the chain reaction that allows for sustainable nuclear power generation, in which the reaction is controlled, or the detonation of nuclear weapons, in which the reaction is uncontrolled.
Nuclear physics
that studies the atomic nucleus, including its structure, behavior, and interactions. It explores the forces that hold the nucleus together and the transformations that occur within it, such as nuclear fusion and fission. Nuclear physics has applications in energy production, medical imaging, and understanding the fundamental building blocks of matter.
Lise Meitner was honored for her work in physics by having the chemical element meitnerium (Mt) named after her. Additionally, she was also nominated several times for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Physics for her work on nuclear fission.
No. Nuclear reactors would be a good project for science, but don't use much physics. Try nuclear weapons. A gun assembly or implosion type fission bomb both use a lot of physics.
S. E. Hunt has written: 'Nuclear physics for engineers and scientists' -- subject(s): Nuclear physics 'Fission, fusion, and the energy crisis' -- subject(s): Nuclear energy
Energy is released in nuclear fission and fusion, this is a fact of the physics of the nucleus. This energy can be captured and harnessed as thermal energy (heat)
Nuclear is any activity related to the nuclei of atoms as nuclear energy, nuclear fission, nuclear engineering, nuclear physics, etc.
Nuclear physics is relevant to the average person in the way it affects energy use of humans. These advances include electricity, fission, nuclear power pants, and perhaps cold fusion in the future.
In nuclear physics, a cross section is essentially the probability that a nucleus will interact with something. An isotope with a high fission cross section, like U-235, is very likely to absorb a thermal (slow) neutron and undergo fission. The cross section has units of area, usually cm2, which is where the name comes from. When the cross section is multiplied by the neutron flux, the product is the fission rate, or number of fissions per second.
General physics deals with mechanics, optics, heat, sound, electricity, magnetism and general properties of matter. Where as Modern physics deals with atoms, its nucleus, fission and fusion process and above all deals with electronics.
Lise Meitner an Austrian, later Swedish, physicist who worked on radio activity and nuclear physics. Meitner was part of the team that discovered nuclear fission.
James Chadwick is most famous for his discovery of the neutron in 1932, which revolutionized the field of nuclear physics and earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1935. His discovery led to the development of nuclear fission and the atomic bomb.