could just tell me about nuclear fission and fusion??

Answer 1

Fission is the splitting of an atom. Fusion is forcing two atoms together.

Answer 2

Nuclear fission is the process of breaking apart the nucleus of an atom. Because the nucleus is held together by extremely powerful forces, breaking these bonds produces a tremendous amount of energy. If we do this in a controlled reaction over time, we can use it to generate electricity, like a nuclear power plant. If we do it all at once, we get an atomic explosion.

Nuclear fusion is the process of pressing the nucleus of two atoms together to form one atom. This is the process that powers stars (including our sun). On earth, it is accomplished by using the force of multiple fission reactions to push two hydrogen atoms to become one helium atom. Nuclear fusion releases much more energy that fission, but we have yet to discover a way to control the reaction. As of now, nuclear fusion is only useful in nuclear weapons, but scientists are making progress towards developing a safe way to produce energy from fusion reactions. The link below is the website of a European organization that expects to have working fusion power plants at some point in the next century.

Answer 3

Nuclear fission is the breaking down of the atom a heavy element with the release of a vast amount of energy.
eg. Uranium238 atom breaks down upon fission to a Kr atom, aBa atom and three electrons.
Nuclear fusion is the joining of the atoms of two light elements to form the atom of a heavy element along with release of an amount of energy greater than that of nuclear fusion.

Answer 4

Nuclear fission is the splitting of the larger nuclei into two or more smaller nucleus with lesser atomic numbers.
For ex. Uranium having mass no 239 splits into Lanthanum and Molybdenum and 2 neutrons when a projectile (substances which induce fission reactions) ie a neutron hits it.

Nuclear fusion is the combining of two lighter nuclei into heavier nucleus.The mass of the products is slightly lesser than the mas of the reactants.
The difference in mass leads to the production of energy according to Einstein's famous equation E=m*C*C

The fact is that the energy of SUN is because of the constant fusion reactions of four Hydrogen nuclei to Helium nucleus. Here the combined mass of 4 protons >mass of the He.

Answer 5

Nuclear Fission

An atom's nucleus can be split apart. When this is done, a tremendous amount of energy is released. The energy is both heat and light energy. Einstein said that a very small amount of matter contains a very LARGE amount of energy. This energy, when let out slowly, can be harnessed to generate electricity. When it is let out all at once, it can make a tremendous explosion in an atomic bomb.
A nuclear power plant uses uranium as a "fuel." Uranium is an element that is dug out of the ground many places around the world. It is processed into tiny pellets that are loaded into very long rods that are put into the power plant's reactor.

The word fission means to split apart. Inside the reactor of an atomic power plant, uranium atoms are split apart in a controlled chain reaction.

In a chain reaction, particles released by the splitting of the atom go off and strike other uranium atoms splitting those. Those particles given off split still other atoms in a chain reaction. In nuclear power plants, control rods are used to keep the splitting regulated so it doesn't go too fast.

If the reaction is not controlled, you could have an atomic bomb. But in atomic bombs, almost pure pieces of the element Uranium-235 or Plutonium, of a precise mass and shape, must be brought together and held together, with great force. These conditions are not present in a nuclear reactor.

The reaction also creates radioactive material. This material could hurt people if released, so it is kept in a solid form. The very strong concrete dome in the picture is designed to keep this material inside if an accident happens.

This chain reaction gives off heat energy. This heat energy is used to boil water in the core of the reactor. So, instead of burning a fuel, nuclear power plants use the chain reaction of atoms splitting to change the energy of atoms into heat energy.

This water from around the nuclear core is sent to another section of the power plant. Here, in the heat exchanger, it heats another set of pipes filled with water to make steam. The steam in this second set of pipes turns a turbine to generate electricity. Below is a cross section of the inside of a typical nuclear power plant.

Nuclear Fusion
Another form of nuclear energy is called fusion. Fusion means joining smaller nuclei (the plural of nucleus) to make a larger nucleus. The sun uses nuclear fusion of hydrogen atoms into helium atoms. This gives off heat and light and other radiation.
In the picture to the right, two types of hydrogen atoms, deuterium and tritium, combine to make a helium atom and an extra particle called a neutron.

Scientists have been working on controlling nuclear fusion for a long time, trying to make a fusion reactor to produce electricity. But they have been having trouble learning how to control the reaction in a contained space.

What's better about nuclear fusion is that it creates less radioactive material than fission, and its supply of fuel can last longer than the sun.

Answer 6

Nuclear fission - also known as atomic fission - is a process in nuclear physics in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller nuclei as fission products, and usually some by-product particles. Hence, fission is a form of elemental transmutation. The by-products include free neutrons, photons usually in the form gamma rays, and other nuclear fragments such as beta particles and alpha particles. Fission of heavy elements is an exothermic reaction and can release substantial amounts of useful energy both as gamma rays and as kinetic energy of the fragments (heating the bulk material where fission takes place).

Nuclear fission is used to produce energy for nuclear power and to drive explosion of nuclear weapons. Fission is useful as a power source because some materials, called nuclear fuels, both generate neutrons as part of the fission process and also undergo triggered fission when impacted by a free neutron. Nuclear fuels can be part of a self-sustaining chain reaction that releases energy at a controlled rate in a nuclear reactor or at a very rapid uncontrolled rate in a nuclear weapon.

The amount of free energy contained in nuclear fuel is millions of times the amount of free energy contained in a similar mass of chemical fuel such as gasoline, making nuclear fission a very tempting source of energy; however, the waste products of nuclear fission are highly radioactive and remain so for millennia, giving rise to a nuclear waste problem. Concerns over nuclear waste accumulation and over the immense destructive potential of nuclear weapons counterbalance the desirable qualities of fission as an energy source, and give rise to intense ongoing political debate over nuclear power.

and

In physics, nuclear fusion is the process by which multiple nuclei join together to form a heavier nucleus. It is accompanied by the release or absorption of energy depending on the masses of the nuclei involved. Iron and nickel nuclei have the largest binding energies per nucleon of all nuclei and therefore are the most stable. The fusion of two nuclei lighter than iron or nickel generally releases energy while the fusion of nuclei heavier than iron or nickel absorbs energy; vice-versa for the reverse process, nuclear fission.

You could click on both links below to have a better understanding...

Answer 7

Fission is to break apart a nucleus, and fusion is to combine them.

Answer 8

nuclear fission: when the nuclei of a heavy atom splits up after colliding with the protons of lighter atom,then it is called nuclear fission. eg: atom bomb
nuclear fussion: when the nuclei of lighter atom splits after colliding with the protons of heavier atom,then it is called nuclear fusion. eg:hydrogen bomb

Answer 9

fission splits atoms...fusion fuses. fusion creats only 1/10 of waste....we haven't perfected it yet !

Answer 10

yes i can tell u