Nuclear fission - Links

Nuclear fission (in nuclear physics, simply fission) is a process in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller nuclei (fission products) and usually some by-product particles. Hence, fission is a form of elemental transmutation. The by-products include free neutrons, photons (usually gamma rays), and other nuclear fragments such as beta particles and alpha particles. Fission of heavy elements can release substantial amounts of useful energy both ...

Including:

• Nuclear fission - Physical overview
• Nuclear fission - Fission reactors
• Nuclear fission - Fission bombs
• Nuclear fission - History
• Nuclear fission - Links

Read more here: » Nuclear fission: Encyclopedia - Nuclear fission

The results of the bombardment of uranium by neutrons had proved interesting and puzzling. First studied by Enrico Fermi and his colleagues in 1934, they were not properly interpreted until several years later. On January 16, 1939, Niels Bohr of Copenhagen, Denmark, arrived in the United States to spend several months in Princeton, N. J., and was particularly anxious to discuss some abstract problems with Albert Einstein. (Four years later Bohr was to escape to Sweden from Nazi-occupied Denmark in a small boat, along with thousands of ...

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Nuclear fission, Nuclear fission - Physical overview, Nuclear fission - Spontaneous and induced fission; chain reactions, Nuclear fission - Fission reactors, Nuclear fission - Fission bombs, Nuclear fission - History, Nuclear fission - Links

Read more here: » Nuclear fission: Encyclopedia II - Nuclear fission - History

Nuclear fission differs from other forms of radioactive decay in that it can be harnessed and controlled via a chain reaction: free neutrons released by each fission event can trigger yet more events, which in turn release more neutrons and cause more fissions. Chemical isotopes that can sustain a fission chain reaction are called nuclear fuels, and are said to be fissile. The most common nuclear fuels are 235U (the isotope of uranium with an atomic mass of 235) and 239Pu (the isotope of plutonium with an atomic mass of ...

See also:

Nuclear fission, Nuclear fission - Physical overview, Nuclear fission - Spontaneous and induced fission; chain reactions, Nuclear fission - Fission reactors, Nuclear fission - Fission bombs, Nuclear fission - History, Nuclear fission - Links

Read more here: » Nuclear fission: Encyclopedia II - Nuclear fission - Physical overview