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Fission vs fusion quiz
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Fission takes place mostly in nuclear physics. It involves a nuclear reaction or a radioactive decay. Fission is the process in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller pieces then it was before. Since they split into more smaller pieces this means they are being split into two or more parts. This makes a light nuclei. The process of fission involves producing free neutrons and photons. This forms gamma rays. After the neutrons and photons are produce a very high level of energy will be released. Fusion is quite different then fission. However, it is also a big part of nuclear physics. Fusion is the process that makes power for the sun and stars. It is the reaction that involves two similar atoms combining to form a different atom. …show more content…
for example two hydrogen atoms will combine and split to make a helium atom.
In this process energy is being formed from the hydrogen atom's mass. The main difference between fission and fusion is that fusion is the splitting of atoms. Radioactivity happens and refers to the particles that are being emitted from the nuclei as a result of the nuclear instability. During this there is a big conflict between toe forces of nature. It is a spontaneous emission of radiation in the form of the particles or high energy photons resulting from a nuclear reaction (dictionary). Radioactivity is a big part of chemical physics. During this reaction there is a phenomenon between the atoms since they are emitting radiation. This causes changes in the nuclei. Nuclear reactions are used in several ways. They can be used to create new elements. These reactions can combine and split atoms to from new ones. They can also create electricity. The electricity usually comes from nuclear plants. These plants boil water into steam. After this occurs the steam turns into turbines, and this causes electricity. They use fission to split the atoms. Just one of these nuclear reactor can generate over 1,200,000 houses at one time. It also creates energy as well. Another popular way these reactions are used is for medicine.
Nuclear medicine involves application of radioactive substances in the diagnosis and the treatment of the certain disease (dictionary). This is a reactions because radionuclides are combined with other elements to create different types of chemical compounds. They could also be formed with other pharmaceutical compounds. This forms radio pharmaceuticals. Once given to the patients, they localize to cellular receptors or specific organs. Along with medicine nuclear reactions also help with imagining. It uses low doses of radioactive substance. Using these substances they help find tumors and cysts in a human body. The two major instruments that use nuclear imagining is the PET scan and the SPECT scan. Along with all this nuclear reactions are also used in smoke detectors. They produce americium-241 that decays from plutonium-241. It uses radioactive material to detect smoke or heat. Once heat or smoke is detected the. The alarm will go off. This informs the residents that there may be a fire in the house and they need to put it out if possible or if not get out of the house. The last thing nuclear reactions are used for are nuclear weapons. They use reactions from chemicals to explode. The different types of weapons are atomic bomb, thermonuclear bombs, hydrogen bombs, uranium bombs, and plutonium bombs. There are others, but these are the most popular. As you can see there are many different things that nuclear reactors are use for. I gave just a few examples, but there are several others.
When the released neutrons attach to other isotopes of Uranium 235, this can result in a chain reaction of fission. For every generation of fission, the amount of fission is doubled, and this results in an extreme outburst of energy. The amount of energy released by this process is related to Einstein’s famous equation “E=mc2” (Wolf). Einstein's equation "E=mc2" has two sides, which are constructive and destructive. The constructive side is when energy is converted into mass, and the destructive side is when a small amount of mass is converted into energy.
All these effects were the cause of the discovery of nuclear fission and its properties. Nuclear Fusion Nuclear fusion is the process used by the sun and the stars in our solar system to produce their energy. Fusion involves smashing hydrogen atoms together at high velocities to form helium, and the matter is made into energy.
Both fission and fusion use atoms, specifically the neutron and proton, to generate energy. The protons and neutrons make up the nucleus of an atom, therefore making up the mass, which is converted into energy, but fission and fusion are two different ways of harnessing that energy.
Nuclear energy must be a consideration for the future with the rapidly depleting supply of fossil fuels. This type of energy can be created through nuclear fission and nuclear fusion. Nuclear fission is the splitting of a heavy atom into two or more parts, releasing huge amounts of energy. The release of energy can be controlled and captured for generating electricity. Nuclear fusion involves bombarding hydrogen atoms together to form helium. In the long run, nuclear fusion has greater potential than fission.
According to Merriam-Webster, nuclear fission is defined as “the splitting of an atomic nucleus resulting in the release of large amounts of energy” (Nuclear Fission). In the book Remembering the Manhattan Project: Perspectives on the Making of the Atomic Bomb and Its Legacy, Richard Rhodes, an American journalist and historian, states that fission was essentially discovered by accident. On December 21, 1938, German physicists, Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman, were performing an experiment in which they bombarded uranium atoms with neutrons (Rhodes 17). They saw that this procedure created mutated atoms that had strange characteristics. Hahn and Strassman found that the neutrons split the nuclei of the uranium in half producing radioactive barium and krypton (Rhodes 18). Rhodes explains that the physicists observed that the reaction was extremely exothermic, producing about ten times the energy needed for the fission to occur. After publishing their findings, physicists all over the world recreated the experiment. After conducting his own fission experiment, Enrico Fermi, an Italian physicist at Colombia University, said, “A little bomb like that and it would all disappear” (qtd. Rhodes 19). Many of the world’s physicists came to the same conclusion; this reaction could be used to develop an atomic weapon. According to Rhodes, this discovery made the development of atomic weaponry seem essential to many countries because the only way to defend themselves against atomic weapons was to have similar weapons of their own.
To understand what a radioactive isotope is a basic understanding of the atom is necessary. Atoms are comprised of three subatomic particles : protons, neutrons and electrons. Protons and neutrons bind together to form the nucleus of the atom, while the electrons surround and orbit the nucleus. Protons and electrons have opposite charges and therefore attract one another (electrons are negative and protons are positive, and opposite charges attract), and in most cases the number of electrons and protons are the same for an atom (making the atom neutral in charge). The neutrons are neutral. Their purpose in the nucleus is to bind protons together. Because the protons all have the same charge and would naturally repel one another, the neutrons act as "glue" to hold the protons tightly together in the nucleus.
To begin, nuclear power is produced by nuclear fission, which is the splitting of an atom to start a chain reaction (“11 Facts”). This chain reaction produces massive amounts of heat. Nuclear reactors take advantage of this heat by pumping water into the reactor, which in turn produces steam. The steam then becomes pressurized through a pipeline and exits into a turbine (“How do Nuclear”). The pressurized steam causes the turbine blades to spin, producing power which is linked to a generator for use in the main power lines. When the steam passes the turbine blades, it goes past cooled pipes and condensates (“How do Nuclear”). After the condensation process is finished and the steam reverts back to water, it is pumped into the reactor again, thus completing the process of producing nuclear-based power.
A radioisotope is an isotope that emits radiation as it has nuclear instability(Prostate Cancer; Fusion imaging helps target greater doses of radiation).Those who are not too familiar with radioisotopes may think their use is for harmful radiation, nuclear weapons, and the possibility of turning into a giant, raging, green monster. However, there are much more positive uses for radioisotopes. There have been many medical advances thanks to the benefit and practice of radioisotopes in nuclear medicine. These advances have been able to diagnose and treat a variety of diseases.
energy out of a nuclear reaction than we put in. First, the energy per fission
This nuclear activity only lasts a few minutes, but it is one of the reasons the Universe has an abundance of light elements. The Universe continued to grow and cool, later fusing the heavier elements and then what we see around us today. All of it began with the Big Bang. The Big Bang is a well known and believed theory of how the universe was created. It is described as a tremendous explosion that has a certain place and time.
Nuclear fusion occurs when two atomic nuclei collide with enough energy to bind together to form one nucleus. Nuclear fusion occurs in the core of our sun, and is the source of its tremendous heat. In the sun hydrogen nuclei, single protons, fuse together and form a new nucleus. In the conversion, a small amount of mass is converted into energy. It is this energy that heats the sun.
In fission, an atom is split into two or more smaller, lighter atoms. Fusion, in contrast, occurs when two or smaller atoms fuse together, creating a larger, heavier atom. Fission is the splitting of a large atom into two or more smaller ones. Fusion is the fusing of two or more lighter atoms into a larger one.
Nuclear energy is generated by a process called fission. Fission occurs within the reactor of a nuclear power plant when a neutron is fired at an atom of uranium causing it to split and release subsequent neutrons.1 These are able to crash into other uranium atoms causing a chain reaction and releasing a great deal of heat energy.
Radioactivity is a process of releasing protons and gives out radiation like gamma rays over time. It is also called nuclear energy. The process of generating energy can be done through nuclear
The process of nuclear energy becoming a form of electricity stems from nuclear fission. Nuclear fission is atoms being split to release energy in a nuclear reactor. The nuclear reactor is composed of fuel elements, moderate, and control rods and is enclosed in thick concrete walls. Uranium pellets are the elements used in fission that cause chain reactions of the splitting of atoms. As this chain reaction continues, and the