Fission
We travel to a nuclear power plant to explain what happens inside an atom that undergoes fission and we show you how that process is harnessed to create electricity.
We travel to a nuclear power plant to explain what happens inside an atom that undergoes fission and we show you how that process is harnessed to create electricity.
Learning Objectives
-Define nuclear fission, and explain when nuclear fission occurs.
-Explain why large amounts of energy are released, and how the mass of the fission fragments are less than the mass of the fissioning nucleus.
-Discuss what a chain reaction is and when it occurs.
-Discuss how nuclear reactors work and what waste is created from them.
-Define nuclear fission, and explain when nuclear fission occurs.
-Explain why large amounts of energy are released, and how the mass of the fission fragments are less than the mass of the fissioning nucleus.
-Discuss what a chain reaction is and when it occurs.
-Discuss how nuclear reactors work and what waste is created from them.
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Vocabulary
binding energy (E) - the amount of energy used to keep a nucleus together; equal to the mass defect times the speed of light, squared. critical mass - the minimum amount of fissile material that can undergo fission needed to maintain a nuclear chain reaction. fission - the process of splitting an atom into smaller, lighter atoms, releasing energy. mass defect (Dm) - the difference in mass between the particles within a nucleus and the particles by themselves, not bound within a nucleus. radioactive decay - the spontaneous emission of charged particles and/or energy from an atom. strong nuclear force - the strongest of the four fundamental forces also having the shortest range, this attractive force holds the protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom together. |