Nuclear Fission and Fusion Flashcards
How does nuclear fission create electricity?
Water is converted to steam via the heat from
the fission reaction. This steam is then able to rotate the turbines, which in turn, produces the electricity using a generator.
Nuclear fission
Nuclear fission splits an atom to produce energy
Nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion combines two atoms to produce energy
What was the name of the first nuclear weapon dropped and where was it released?
Little Boy on Hiroshima, Japan.
What is the main difference between how a fossil fuel power plant and a fission power plant
generates electricity?
The main difference comes in the means of turning water into steam.
Fossil fuel plants burn fossil fuels to create the needed heat while nuclear plants create a nuclear reaction to get the desired energy.
Why are fusion power plants not yet an option?
Fusion reactions are too difficult to contain or use more energy than they produce.
Describe the chain reaction that causes the fission nuclear explosion.
In a fission bomb, neutrons are fired at uranium or plutonium atoms, which split producing smaller atoms and energy.
These smaller atoms then collide with more uranium or plutonium atom causing them to split and so starts the destructive chain reaction.
As a multiple, how much more powerful are fusion bombs compared with fission bombs?
Fusion bombs are 100X more powerful.
Why do some consider nuclear power plants environmentally friendly?
Nuclear power plants don’t emit greenhouse gases, their waste is isolated from the environment and
power plants require only a relatively small amount of land.
What are some of the drawbacks for using nuclear power?
Nuclear waste is long lasting, very dangerous and needs to be stored safely and securely. If safety measures are not met, there can be serious health effects.
Nuclear energy
refers to the energy contained in or released from, the nucleus of an atom.
To release energy, atoms can either be …
combined or broken apart
In a nuclear fission power plant, the heat used to convert water into steam is created when uranium atoms are _____ producing energy in the form of heat.
split
The process of splitting uranium atoms is what we call _____
fission
Nuclear fusion is the same process used by the sun to provide us with __________. It occurs
when the nuclei of two smaller atoms _____ to form a larger, heavier one.
heat and light; join
