Background Information Nuclear fusion is the combining of light elements into heavier ones.
Nuclear fission is the splitting of a heavy element into smaller, lighter elements.
In both of these processes energy can be released. This demonstration with soap bubbles is limited as a model for fission or fusion because it illustrates only the overall concept. The elements that are missing from the soap bubble model are the neutrons and the energy released during fission, and the protons and energy released during fusion. A nuclear source of energy in nature is the sun. Stars fuse hydrogen atoms into helium atoms and in this process of fusion release energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation.