Fission and Fusion - GCSE Physics - Summary
Channel: Kit Betts-Masters
Date: 2021-01-18

Fission is the splitting of large nuclei into smaller nuclei.
Fusion is the joining of small nuclei into larger nuclei.
Fission is currently used on Earth in nuclear reactors.  These use isotopes and create waste products with very long half-lives, so have serious risks attached.
Fusion is currently only used on Earth for weapons, however it is the main reaction by which stars release energy and has been used for space craft propulsion.  It is currently not possible on in fusion reactors on Earth to have a net gain of energy from the reaction.  Nuclear fusion leaves no radioactive waste.

When more massive unstable nuclei split to form less massive more stable nuclei, energy is released.  
Spontaneous fission is quite rare.  Fission is induced when a fissile nucleus absorbs a neutron.  It becomes very unstable and undergoes fission, it releases two or three neutrons and also gamma photons.  The neutrons can go onto cause more fissions.  This is what is meant by a chain reaction.  Each fission causes more fissions (exponentially).

When two less massive nuclei fuse to create a more massive one, some mass is converted to energy. 


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