Hi everyone 
Right, I understand this has such little place on FF but none of my friends have a clue and I know we have a few people who did physics alevel/more physics on here so i thought i would give it a try...
OK, physics exam on thursday, I was revising for it and had to answer about nuclear fusion vs. fission, comparison etc. When I suddenly realised what I was writing/thinking about didn't make any sense! I am hoping somebody can set me straight.
OK;
Fission:
The reason why energy is given out is because when broken up, the two new nuclei are more tightly packed than the starting nucleus and hence have a lower mass = mass defect => use E = mc^2 to get energy, cheers Einstein
Fusion:
The two nuclei come together and make a bigger nucleus which has a lower mass than the small nuclei and hence energy is given out (again, cheers Mr Einstein)
So fine i thought before when I didn't think about it, both have a loss in mass so energy is given out. But then I thought; well, how can it be when they go from 2 x small to 1 x big there is a loss in mass but when it goes from 1 x big to 2 x small there is also a loss in mass. Or am I just misunderstanding and confusing myself?
WOuld appriciate any help - otherwise it's back into school tomorrow to sort out my stupidity!
Paul
----------
Uno 1.0ie Start. Standard.
Right, I understand this has such little place on FF but none of my friends have a clue and I know we have a few people who did physics alevel/more physics on here so i thought i would give it a try...
OK, physics exam on thursday, I was revising for it and had to answer about nuclear fusion vs. fission, comparison etc. When I suddenly realised what I was writing/thinking about didn't make any sense! I am hoping somebody can set me straight.
OK;
Fission:
The reason why energy is given out is because when broken up, the two new nuclei are more tightly packed than the starting nucleus and hence have a lower mass = mass defect => use E = mc^2 to get energy, cheers Einstein
Fusion:
The two nuclei come together and make a bigger nucleus which has a lower mass than the small nuclei and hence energy is given out (again, cheers Mr Einstein)
So fine i thought before when I didn't think about it, both have a loss in mass so energy is given out. But then I thought; well, how can it be when they go from 2 x small to 1 x big there is a loss in mass but when it goes from 1 x big to 2 x small there is also a loss in mass. Or am I just misunderstanding and confusing myself?
WOuld appriciate any help - otherwise it's back into school tomorrow to sort out my stupidity!
Paul
----------
Uno 1.0ie Start. Standard.
