Question

What is nuclear fission and nuclear fusion?

Answer 1

Hint:Two physical mechanisms that create vast quantities of energy from atoms are fission and fusion.Through nuclear reactions, they produce millions of times more energy than other sources.Fusion happens when two atoms, as when two hydrogen atoms combine to form one helium atom, crash together to form a heavier atom. This is the same mechanism that drives the sun which provides vast quantities of energy, many times greater than fission.

Complete answer:
Nuclear fission: When a neutron crashes into a bigger atom, fission occurs, causing it to excite and spill into two smaller atoms, also referred to as fission products. Additional neutrons that can initiate a chain reaction are also released.A huge amount of energy is released as each atom splits.In nuclear power plants, uranium and plutonium are most widely used for fission reactions because they are easy to initiate and manage.

Nuclear fusion: Fusion happens when two atoms, as when two hydrogen atoms combine to form one helium atom, slam together to form a heavier atom. This is the same mechanism that drives the sun which provides vast quantities of energy, many times greater than fission. It doesn't generate extremely radioactive materials for fission either. Scientists are investigating fusion reactions, but due to the enormous amount of pressure and temperature required to bind the nuclei together, they are impossible to maintain for long periods of time.

Note:Fission is the separation into two lighter nuclei of a heavy, unstable nucleus, and fusion is the phase in which two light nuclei fuse together, producing large quantities of energy.The fission-released energy in these reactors heats water into steam. The steam is used to spin a turbine to generate energy that is carbon-free.