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Contrasting Nuclear Fission and Nuclear Fusion

  • Page ID
    1482
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    Nuclear fusion and nuclear fission are two different types of energy-releasing reactions in which energy is released from high-powered atomic bonds between the particles within the nucleus. The main difference between these two processes is that fission is the splitting of an atom into two or more smaller ones while fusion is the fusing of two or more smaller atoms into a larger one.

    Nuclear Fission Nuclear Fusion
    Definition: 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.
    Natural occurrence of the process: Fission reaction does not normally occur in nature. Fusion occurs in stars, such as the sun.
    Byproducts of the reaction: Fission produces many highly radioactive particles. Few radioactive particles are produced by fusion reaction, but if a fission "trigger" is used, radioactive particles will result from that.
    Conditions: Critical mass of the substance and high-speed neutrons are required. High density, high temperature environment is required.
    Energy Requirement: Takes little energy to split two atoms in a fission reaction. Extremely high energy is required to bring two or more protons close enough that nuclear forces overcome their electrostatic repulsion.
    Energy Released: The energy released by fission is a million times greater than that released in chemical reactions; but lower than the energy released by nuclear fusion. The energy released by fusion is three to four times greater than the energy released by fission.
    Nuclear weapon: One class of nuclear weapon is a fission bomb, also known as an atomic bomb or atom bomb. One class of nuclear weapon is the hydrogen bomb, which uses a fission reaction to "trigger" a fusion reaction.

    Contrasting Nuclear Fission and Nuclear Fusion is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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