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Nuclear fission can be induced in some heavy nuclei by the capture of a neutron.
The nucleus splits into two nuclei and several neutrons.
The total mass of the reactants in a fission reaction is greater than that of the products, releasing energy given by
where m is the mass of the reactants minus the mass of the products.
On average, more than one neutron is emitted in nuclear fission. This leads to the possibility that these neutrons will induce further fissions, resulting in a chain reaction.
The neutrons emitted as a result of nuclear fission have high speeds.
undergoes fission with slow neutrons. Hence to induce fission in these nuclei the neutrons must be slowed down.
Many neutrons are absorbed by surrounding nuclei, or escape and cause no further fissions.
Enrichment increases the proportion of in uranium fuel.
Energy released during nuclear fission reactions can be harnessed for use in power generation.
Nuclear fusion is the process in which two nuclei combine into a single nucleus.
The energy absorbed or released is given by E = mc2 where is the difference in mass between the reactants and the products.
Lectures
Videos
- 1a. CrashCourse, Fission and fusion
- 1b. SciShow, What Really Happened the First Time We Split a Heavy Atom in Half
- 2a. SciShow, Why Don't We Have Nuclear Fusion Power Yet?
- 3a. kurzgesagt, Nuclear energy
- 3b. kurzgesagt, Nuclear energy
- 3c. kurzgesagt, Nuclear energy
- 4. Forbes, world needs nuclear power
Note; Watch all the Fukushima and Chernobyl Videos because; some aspects only make sense if you watch the whole lot (some of the simplifications are 'too' simple)
- 5a. IRSN, Understanding the accident of Fukushima Daiichi
- 5b. Infographics show, How Fukushima Disaster ACTUALLY Happened
- 6a. VlogBros, What actually happened at Chernobyl
- 6b. Reactions, What happened at Chernobyl
- 6c. Scott Manly, Why Chernobyl exploded
SHE Perspectives
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