#NuclearEnergy #FusionVsFission #EnergyProduction
Have you ever wondered how both nuclear fusion and nuclear fission release energy? 🤔 It may seem like these processes are opposite of each other, but they actually have one thing in common – the immense amount of energy they produce. Let’s dive deeper into the world of nuclear energy and explore how both fusion and fission work to release energy.
## What is Nuclear Fusion?
Nuclear fusion is the process where two light atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, releasing a large amount of energy in the process. This process powers the sun and other stars, creating the energy that sustains life on Earth. In nuclear fusion:
1. Two light atomic nuclei, such as hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium, combine to form a heavier nucleus.
2. This process releases energy in the form of gamma rays and high-speed particles.
3. The equation E=mc², proposed by Albert Einstein, explains the relationship between mass and energy in nuclear fusion reactions.
## What is Nuclear Fission?
On the other hand, nuclear fission is the process where a heavy atomic nucleus splits into two or more lighter nuclei, releasing energy in the form of heat and radiation. This process is used in nuclear power plants to generate electricity. In nuclear fission:
1. A heavy atomic nucleus, such as uranium-235 or plutonium-239, absorbs a neutron and becomes unstable.
2. The nucleus then splits into two or more lighter nuclei, along with additional neutrons and energy.
3. The released energy heats up water in a nuclear reactor, creating steam that drives turbines to generate electricity.
## How are Fusion and Fission Similar?
While fusion and fission may seem like opposing processes, they both share some key similarities:
– Both processes involve the conversion of mass into energy, as depicted by Einstein’s famous equation E=mc².
– Both processes release a large amount of energy, which can be harnessed for various applications, including electricity generation and weapon production.
– Both processes have the potential to produce radioactive waste, which must be handled and disposed of safely to prevent environmental contamination.
## Differences Between Fusion and Fission
Despite their similarities, fusion and fission also have distinct differences:
### Efficiency
– Fission reactions are currently more efficient at producing energy than fusion reactions.
– Fusion reactions require extremely high temperatures and pressure to overcome the repulsive forces between atomic nuclei, making them more challenging to sustain.
### Fuel Sources
– Fission reactions use heavy atomic nuclei, such as uranium and plutonium, as fuel.
– Fusion reactions use light atomic nuclei, such as deuterium and tritium, which are more abundant in nature.
### Waste Products
– Fission reactions produce long-lived radioactive waste that must be stored and managed for thousands of years.
– Fusion reactions produce minimal radioactive waste and do not contribute significantly to long-term environmental contamination.
## The Future of Nuclear Energy
As we look towards the future of energy production, both nuclear fusion and fission hold promise as sustainable sources of clean energy. Scientists and engineers are working tirelessly to overcome the technical challenges of nuclear fusion and improve the safety and efficiency of nuclear fission. By harnessing the power of nuclear energy, we can meet the growing global demand for electricity while reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and mitigating the impacts of climate change.
In conclusion, both nuclear fusion and nuclear fission have the ability to release vast amounts of energy through the conversion of mass into energy. While they have their differences in terms of efficiency, fuel sources, and waste products, they both play a crucial role in our energy landscape. By understanding the principles behind these processes, we can appreciate the complexities of nuclear energy and its immense potential for powering the future.
For more information on nuclear energy and other related topics, visit our website. Let us help you explore the fascinating world of energy production and innovation! 💡🌍 #EnergyProduction #NuclearPower #CleanEnergy
Fission and fusion don’t always release energy- they both only release energy under certain conditions (well, one condition really). For example, if you split a helium atom into two hydrogen atoms, you don’t get any energy (in fact, it takes energy to do this). Likewise, if you smashed two cobalt atoms together to make a xeon, you don’t release energy (similarly, this would take a bunch of energy to do).
Fusion will release energy until the atoms you’re fusing become iron (interestingly enough, stars which supernova do so because their core fuses to iron, fusion stops immediately, and the fusion pressure holding the shape of the star stops, so all of the other material in the star not in the core collapses to the core, rebounding off the core, and then exploding out into the universe). Fission will release energy until the atoms you’re breaking apart become iron. Iron is close to the most stable (in fact, by some measures it is the most stable, but traditionally we say Nickle is the most stable), but there are no known fusion or fission paths to get beyond iron, so both directions end there.
So, what determines if there is energy release in a fusion or fission reaction? The [binding energy and mass defect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_binding_energy). The mass of an atom is less than the mass of its individual components. For instance, [the mass of Helium-4 is 4.8e-28 grams less than the mass of 2 protons and 2 neutrons](https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=%28Mass+He4%29+-+2*%28mass+of+proton+%2B+mass+of+neutron%29). Which, isn’t much, but using the mass-energy equivalence it tells you the amount of energy stored in the binding of the nucleus.
So, as you go up from Hydrogen towards Iron, the binding energy per nucleon goes up- which means the mass defect also goes up, so that energy is released via nuclear fusion. But if you have heavy atoms, as you get smaller then there is more binding energy per nucleon, so if you split the atom apart you release energy.
This chart really explained it for me when I was in physics, the binding energy of the elements:
https://www.schoolphysics.co.uk/age16-19/Nuclear%20physics/Nuclear%20structure/text/Binding_energy_per_nucleon/index.html
The higher on the y axis the higher the binding energy with Iron being the highest. As you approach Iron from the right (fission) *or* the left (fusion) you go from a lower binding energy to a higher binding energy, thus energy is released.
Fusion is only exothermic (i.e. releases energy) when you fuse nucleons with a small number of protons/neutrons, whereas fission is only exothermic when you split nucleons with a large number of protons/neutrons.
The basic idea is that you can convert nuclear potential energy into kinetic energy. Nucleons (protons and neutrons) are attracted to each other via the strong force, and there’s a potential energy associated with that. If you can change your atoms with nuclear chemistry such that the potential energy is lower, then you’ll get heat by conservation of energy. As an example, think about a marble in a bowl: because gravity attracts it, it rolls down the side. As it reaches the bottom of the bowl the gravitational potential energy is much lower, so it’s gained kinetic energy to compensate (i.e. it has a much higher speed).
It turns out that the nature of nuclear potential energy a lot with the number of nucleons in the atom. This has to do with a lot of complicated physics under-the-hood, but the end result is that the potential energy *per nucleon* changes with the total number of nucleons. (We care about this quantity because it essentially tells you how much energy you’d gain/lose if you added another nucleon.)
It turns out this has a sharp peak around iron if you plot it across the elements/isotopes. In a sense, iron manages to pack in its nucleons very, very tightly. This means that if you try to add a nucleon to iron, you’ll lose energy (it’ll be endothermic), and if you try to split iron you’ll *also* lose energy. In both these cases it’s the equivalent of trying to roll a marble uphill, where the iron configuration is like being at the very, very bottom of a hill.
So if you have a very heavy atom and split it, you can think of it as trying to get the constituents closer to iron’s configuration, so you gain energy. Similarly if you fuse light atoms together, you’re also putting them closer to iron so you gain energy. And conversely if you try to split light atoms or fuse heavy atoms.
There’s a good plot here that shows the binding energy per nucleon. You want to go up the curve towards iron from either side to gain energy:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350712651/figure/fig2/AS:1010130158096386@1617845205978/Nuclear-binding-energy-per-nucleon-for-each-element-in-function-of-their-mass-number-A.ppm
It’s sometimes taught in school that energy is released in these processes because there is a change in the mass of the products and we all know that a change in mass releases energy proportional to c squared.
However, while this is true, it is not clear what we are talking about when you consider the atomic composition of the protons (p) and the neutrons (n) of the reactants to the products does not change. When Tritium (1p, 2n) fuses with Deuterium (1p, 1n), it creates Helium (2p, 2n) and a neutron (1n). When Uranium-235 (92p, 143n) fissions by absorbing a neutron (1n), it creates Barium (56p, 144n) and Krypton (36p, 92n) and 3 neutrons (3n). All these reactants and products have the same number of neutrons and protons, **so where does the energy come from**?
**It comes from the change in the binding energy in the nucleii**. What is means by “binding energy” in a nucleus though? Well, atomic nucleii have different energy dynamics inside them depending on how many nucleons (protons and neutrons) they have. The protons and neutrons may not change but the energy interaction of those nucleons does.
Fission is typically achieved with very heavy nucleii with many nucleons. When you have lots of proton nucleons inside a nucleus, like in the case of Uranium-235, all these protons with the same electric charge are repelling each other electrostatically. Splitting the nucleus apart means that this repulsive force is reduced in Barium and Krypton, releasing massive amounts of energy.
Fusion, on the other hand is achieved with very small and light nucleii. Think of how an entire pond of water settles perfectly down with no rigid shape but a tiny droplet of water form these perfect rigid spheres. This is because of the force of surface tension. When you combine two droplets of water, the resulting surface tension forces are reduced in the larger combined droplet. When light atomic nucleii combine, the final binding energy of the product nucleus can be thought of like a reduction in the surface tension, releasing massive amounts of energy as well.
So both fusion and fission release energy by different changing dynamics, when light things become heavier (surface tension forces) and when heavy things become lighter (electrostatic forces).