How is energy released from nuclear fission and nuclear fusion, especially since they are opposite processes?
What will be an ideal response?
The name of the energy game is "lose mass." In both fission and fusion mass is decreased in the reactions, but only light nuclei lose mass by fusion and only heavy nuclei lose mass by fission (fusing heavy nuclei and fissioning light nuclei would absorb rather than release energy). When uranium fissions, the masses of its fragments is less than the mass of the uranium nucleus. Similarly, when hydrogen nuclei fuse, the resulting helium nucleus has less mass than did the two hydrogens. The missing mass, multiplied by the speed of light squared, equals the amount of released energy. This energy is carried in the kinetic energy of the fragments for fission, and in the kinetic energy of the neutrons and recoiling helium for fusion.
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Indicate whether the statement is true or false