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Nuclear fission is the process of 'splitting the atom', the most common example is 235Uranium absorbing a neutron, then splitting into two separate elements.
Uranium and plutonium are split by neutrons. No element below uranium can be split. Some elements beyond uranium have isotopes that split spontaneously due to their degree of instability. Splitting atoms is called fission.

With a particle accelerator. A scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy put it this way:

"One way is to strip off a bunch of its electrons with light pulses or with charged plates...and then send it to circulate through a curved magnetic field (since the atom has lost some electrons, it is now charged, and charged particles speed up when you put them into a curved magnetic field). When you get the atom going really really fast, change the field and let the particle slam into a target. Sort of like throwing an alarm clock against a wall really hard.... the atom smashes open and we see its "insides" come screaming out (using a special detector)." (see link below for "Ask a Scientist.")

This is called nuclear fission. It occurs naturally among elements such as 235U and 239Pu, but other radioactive isotopes as well. Fission releases energy, mainly as heat.

Inside an atom is a nucleus made of particles called protons and neutrons. If there is a large number of protons and neutrons there, the nucleus can be unstable. When an atom is split, the nucleus divides into two, becoming two atoms of lighter elements. The energy that was holding the nucleus together is released. Splitting an atom (nucleus) is actually known as nuclear fission. Nuclear fission is what occurs in an atomic bomb and also in nuclear reactors.

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7y ago

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