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Nuclear Fission
Nuclear fission is the phenomenon in which an atomic nucleus splits into lighter nuclei. This reaction can be spontaneous in some isotopes, but usually is the result of heavy nuclei absorbing a neutron. Because fission often results in the emission of multiple neutrons, this reaction can be self-sustaining, making such things like nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons possible.
488 Questions
What are facts and a fib about how radioactive materials are used to produce nuclear energy?
Fact: Radioactive materials such as uranium are used as fuel in nuclear reactors to produce nuclear energy through a process called nuclear fission, where atoms are split to release energy.
Fib: Radioactive materials used in nuclear energy production can explode like a nuclear bomb.
Who discovered nuclear fission?
Let's take a little trip through the history of science and bring things current. It was Ernest Rutherford who first split the atom in 1917 by bombarding nitrogen with alpha particles, and he and his team continue to investigate. John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton, Rutherford's students, applied a different twist in 1932, and they used a particle accelerator (the Cockcroft-Walton accelerator) to shoot protons at lithium nuclei. James Chadwick discovered the neutron at this time, and Enric Fermi and associates in Roma experimented with bombarding uranium with neutrons in 1934. And it was Ida Noddack who, in 1934, first proposed the idea of atomic or nuclear fission. From there, the number of investigators grows and the trails branch. Many of these early investigations were looked at under the science of chemistry, and physics was in the process of wrestling them away and making them its own. Use the link below to review the history of nuclear fission. It's chockablock with the names of giants in the history of the new physics.
Why is nuclear fusion self-sustaining?
Because when a fusion reaction occurs a hydrogen atom collides with another proton, releasing energy and creating a helium nuclei. This will then collide with another proton, releasing more energy and the next atoms in the periodic table. This continues to happen as a chain-reaction similar to dominoes.
Fission products are the fragments resulting from the fission of heavy nuclids during nuclear fission process
Is a cat scan nuclear fusion or nuclear fission?
Neither, a CAT scan is one where computers are used to synthesise an image, but the radiation used is usually X-rays, though positron emission can be used, in this case it will be using appropriate radiation sources. Fusion and fission don't come into it.
Explain the working principle of a nuclear reactor?
Nuclear fission is the working principle under which the nuclear reactors operate.
Is it true or false that uranium nuclei split during nuclear fission?
It is true that a uranium nucleus splits in the nuclear fission of uranium.
How much helium does the Earth produce per year?
An estimated 3000 metric tons of helium are generated per year throughout the lithosphere of the Earth by radioactive decay. Industry uses about 32 million kg per year, which is 10 times the amount the Earth can produce. Eventually we will use up more than the Earth produces and let it all escape into space.
Are fission products smaller than neutrons?
Fission produces many different products, some of which are neutrons, and some of which are larger than neutrons, and some of which are smaller than neutrons.
