Fission only occurs in two isotopes, Uranium-235 and Plutonium- 239
The only reason the chain reaction occurs is the goal of making that isotope become stable.
Fusion: occurs when nuclei combine to produce a nucleus of a greater mass.
- Small nuclei combine and release much more energy than fission reactions
- this also only occurs at very high temperatures, like 40 million degrees Celsius!
The chart I have posted below really helped me understand the main differences between the two.
Comparison chart</> Embed this chart
Nuclear Fission | Nuclear Fusion | |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fission is the splitting of a large atom into two or more smaller ones. | Fusion is the fusing of two or more lighter atoms into a larger one. |
| Natural occurrence of the process | Fission reaction does not normally occur in nature. | Fusion occurs in stars, such as the sun. |
| Byproducts of the reaction | Fission produces many highly radioactive particles. | Few radioactive particles are produced by fusion reaction, but if a fission "trigger" is used, radioactive particles will result from that. |
| Conditions | Critical mass of the substance and high-speed neutrons are required. | High density, high temperature environment is required. |
| Energy Requirement | Takes little energy to split two atoms in a fission reaction. | Extremely high energy is required to bring two or more protons close enough that nuclear forces overcome their electrostatic repulsion. |
| Energy Released | The energy released by fission is a million times greater than that released in chemical reactions, but lower than the energy released by nuclear fusion. | The energy released by fusion is three to four times greater than the energy released by fission. |
| Nuclear weapon | One class of nuclear weapon is a fission bomb, also known as an atomic bomb or atom bomb. | One class of nuclear weapon is the hydrogen bomb, which uses a fission reaction to "trigger" a fusion reaction. |
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