Nuclear Reactions
Introduction
Nuclear reactions are reactions that involve a change to the energy , composition or structure of nucleus (protons and neutrons), these reactions are quite distinctly different from chemical reactions which involve only electrons.The most common types of nuclear reaction are fission (breaking of a large nucleus into two or more smaller nuclei), fusion ( the joining of two small nuclei into one larger nucleus) and radioactive decay (spontaneous disintegration of a radionuclide accompanied by the emission of ionizing radiation in the form of alpha or beta particles or gamma rays).
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Interesting LinksThe Nobel Prize website has a good practical introduction to nuclear reactions (navigation is not clear there is a nearly invisible next button top right next to the back button)
Energy from Matter As always Hyperphysics has a good clear explanation and clear examples Nuclear Reactions The MinutePhysics minutelabs have a very useful @walk through E=mc2 interactive animation Mass-Energy Scale Please use the email or Facebook links at the top of the page to send me any links that you discover so that I can add them to our site. YouTube VideosMake sure you have in your mind a clear understanding of the difference between radiation and radioactivity
This video looks at the damage radiation can cause
The current day effects of radiation on the environment from the Chernobyl accident in 1986.
The first video is a tour of the abandoned, contaminated area arounf-d the reactor The second looks more at the Science of the contamination and its effect on the environment This is a great start to the basic concepts of nuclear reactions
This is the MinutePhysics video mention in the Veritaserum video
These two videos on Nuclear Fission and Fusion have good visuals and clear explanations of the processes
This video looks at Fission and Fusion from a binding energy point of view and is a good basis for mass-energy calculations
For a look at why nuclear weapons are hard to make
For Help with writing and balancing nuclear reactions
Please use the email or Facebook links at the top of the page to send me any links that you discover so that I can add them to our site.
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Useful Resources |