Difference between nuclear fusion and nuclear fission Class 10

There are two types of nuclear reactions called nuclear fission and nuclear fusion. Nuclear fission and fusion involve the disintegration and combination of the elemental nucleus. In the case of nuclear fission, an atom divides into two or more smaller or lighter atoms. Nuclear fusion occurs when two or more atoms join or fuse together to form a large or heavier atom.

What is Nuclear Fission?

Nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom is bombarded with low energy neutrons which split the nucleus into smaller nuclei. An abundant amount of energy is released in this process. Nuclear fission reactions are used in nuclear power reactors since it is easy to control and produces large amounts of energy.

Difference between nuclear fusion and nuclear fission Class 10

When uranium-235 is bombarded with slow-moving neutrons, the heavy nucleus of the uranium splits and produces krypton-89 and barium-144 with the emission of three neutrons.

Read More: Nuclear Fission

What is Nuclear Fusion?

Nuclear Fusion is a reaction that occurs when two or more atoms combine together to form to a single heavier nucelus. An enormous amount of energy is released in this process, much greater than the energy released during the nuclear fission reaction.

Difference between nuclear fusion and nuclear fission Class 10

Fusion occurs in the sun where the atoms of (isotopes of hydrogen, Hydrogen-3, and Hydrogen-2) Deuterium and Tritium combine in a huge pressure atmosphere with extremely high temperatures to produce an output in the form of a neutron and an isotope of Helium. Also, the amount of energy released in fusion is way greater than the energy produced by fission.

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The table below lists the various differences between nuclear fission and fusion:

Nuclear Fission

Nuclear Fusion

When the nucleus of an atom splits into lighter nuclei through a nuclear reaction the process is termed nuclear fission.

Nuclear fusion is a reaction through which two or more light nuclei collide with each other to form a heavier nucleus.

When each atom split, a tremendous amount of energy is released

The energy released during nuclear fusion is several times greater than the energy released during nuclear fusion.

Fission reactions do not occur in nature naturally

Fusion reactions occur in stars and the sun

Little energy is needed to split an atom in a fission reaction

High energy is needed to bring fuse two or more atoms together in a fusion reaction

Atomic bomb works on the principle of nuclear fission

Hydrogen bomb works on the principle of a nuclear fusion bomb.

The table above would have given you a clear idea about how the two terms nuclear fission and fusion vary from one another.

Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs

What is nuclear fission?

It is the process in which the nucleus of an atom splits into lighter nuclei through a nuclear reaction.

What is nuclear fusion?

It is the process in which two or more light nuclei collide with each other to form a heavier nucleus.

Which reaction is seen in the Sun?

Nuclear fusion reaction takes place in the Sun.

Atomic bomb works on which principle?

Atomic bomb works on the principle of nuclear fission.

Does nuclear fission take place naturally?

Nuclear fission reaction does not take place in nature naturally.

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May 27, 2021 Comments (17)

Editor's note: This article was originally published on January 30, 2013. It has been revised, updated and republished. 

Difference between nuclear fusion and nuclear fission Class 10

NASA

Inside the sun, fusion reactions take place at very high temperatures and enormous gravitational pressures

Look up during the day to see one of the most powerful examples of a nuclear reactor: the sun. Inside the sun, fusion reactions take place at very high temperatures and enormous gravitational pressures.

The foundation of nuclear energy is harnessing the power of atoms by splitting apart, a process called fission, or combining them, called fusion. Both fission and fusion alter atoms to create energy, but what is the difference between the two?

Fission, a term coined by scientists LIse Meitner and Otto Frisch, is named after the term “binary fission” in biology to describe cell division. Just as cell’s divide, in fission an atom splits into smaller particles. Fission takes place when a large, somewhatunstable isotope (atoms with the same number of protons but different number of neutrons) is bombarded by high-speed particles, usually neutrons. These neutrons are accelerated and then slammed into the unstable isotope, causing it to fission, or break into smaller particles. During the process, a neutron is accelerated and strikes the target nucleus, which in the majority of nuclear power reactors today is Uranium-235. This splits the target nucleus and breaks it down into two smaller isotopes (the fission products), three high-speed neutrons, and a large amount of energy. This resulting energy is then used to heat water in nuclear reactors and ultimately produces electricity. The high-speed neutrons that are ejected become projectiles that initiate other fission reactions, or chain reactions.

Difference between nuclear fusion and nuclear fission Class 10

EIA

Nuclear Fission

Conversely, fusion takes place when two low-mass isotopes, typically isotopes of hydrogen, unite under conditions of extreme pressure and temperature. Atoms of Tritium and Deuterium (isotopes of hydrogen, Hydrogen-3 and Hydrogen-2, respectively) unite under extreme pressure and temperature to produce a neutron and a helium isotope. Along with this, an enormous amount of energy is released, which is several times the amount produced from fission.

Difference between nuclear fusion and nuclear fission Class 10

DOE

Nuclear Fusion

While fission is used in nuclear power reactors since it can be controlled, fusion is not yet utilized to produce power. Some scientists believe there are opportunities to do so. Fusion offers an appealing opportunity, since fusion creates less radioactive material than fission and has a nearly unlimited fuel supply. These benefits are countered by the difficulty in harnessing fusion. Fusion reactions are not easily controlled, and it is expensive to create the needed conditions for a fusion reaction. However, research continues into ways to better harness the power of fusion, but research is in experimental stages, as scientists continue to work on controlling nuclear fusion in an effort to make a fusion reactor to produce electricity.

Both fission and fusion are nuclear reactions that produce energy, but the processes are very different. Fission is the splitting of a heavy, unstable nucleus into two lighter nuclei, and fusion is the process where two light nuclei combine together releasing vast amounts of energy. While different, the two processes have an important role in the past, present and future of energy creation.

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