Nuclear Fusion and Fission Flashcards

Flashcards about nuclear fusion and fission.

What is nuclear fusion?

The opposite of nuclear fission.

What happens during nuclear fusion?

Two light nuclei collide at high speed and join (fuse) to create a larger, heavier nucleus.

Give an example of nuclear fusion.

Hydrogen nuclei can fuse to produce a helium nucleus.

What happens to the mass during nuclear fusion?

The heavier nucleus produced by fusion does not have as much mass as the two separate, light nuclei did. Some of the mass of the lighter nuclei is converted to energy, then released as radiation.

Does fusion or fission release more energy?

Fusion releases a lot of energy, more than fission for a given mass of fuel.

Why haven't scientists found a way of using fusion to generate energy for us to use?

The temperatures and pressures needed for fusion are so high that fusion reactors are really hard and expensive to build.

Explain what happens during a forced fission reaction.

Fission rarely occurs spontaneously and often needs a prod to get it going, referring to a chain reaction.