Flashcards
nuclear fission
Cards in this deck (6)
- 1what is nuclear fissionNuclear power reactors use a reaction called nuclear fission. Two isotopes in common use as nuclear fuels are uranium-235 and plutonium-239.
- 2what does fission meanFission is another word for splitting. The process of splitting a nucleus is called nuclear fission.
- 3why are uranium and plutonium used as fuel in nuclear reactorsUranium or plutonium isotopes are normally used as the fuel in nuclear reactors, because their atoms have relatively large nuclei that are easy to split, especially when hit by neutrons.
- 4what happens when uranium and plutonium is hit by a neutronWhen a uranium-235 or plutonium-239 nucleus is hit by a neutron, the following happens:
the nucleus splits into two smaller nuclei, which are radioactive
two or three more neutrons are released
some energy is released - 5what is a chain reactionEven more neutrons are then released, which in turn can split more nuclei. This is called a chain reaction. The chain reaction in nuclear reactors is controlled to stop it going too fast.
- 6draw what happens in nuclear fission
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- Triple science Flashcards on nuclear fission , created by ella stokes on 26/03/2017.
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- ella stokes
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