Question

(a) Differentiate between nuclear fission and nuclear fusion.
(b) Which of the two, nuclear fusion and nuclear fusion, is made use of:
(i) for the production of electricity?
(ii) for making a hydrogen bomb?
(c) Which produces more energy : nuclear fusion or nuclear fission?
(d) Calculate the energy released in joules when 5 g of a material is completely converted into energy doing a nuclear reaction.
(e) How much is this energy in MeV? (Speed of light = 3 × 10⁸ m/s)

Answer 1

↵(a) Nuclear fission and nuclear fusion can be differentiated as follows.

	Nuclear fission	Nuclear fusion
Definition	Fission is the splitting of the heavy nucleus of a radioactive atom into smaller nuclei.	Fusion is the fusing of two or more lighter nuclei into a heavy nucleus.
Natural occurrence of the process	The process of nuclear fission does not normally occur in nature.	Fusion occurs in stars, such as the sun.
Energy released	The energy released by fission is a million times greater than that released in chemical reactions, but is lower than the energy released by nuclear fusion.	The energy released by fusion is three to four times greater than the energy released by fission.

(b)
(i) Nuclear fission can be used for the production of electricity.
(ii) The process of nuclear fusion is used for making hydrogen bombs.

(c) Nuclear fusion. The energy released by fusion is three to four times greater than the energy released by fission.

(d) The energy released in joules when 5 g (5/1000 kg ) of a material is completely converted into energy during a nuclear reaction is given by Einstein's equation as


(e) The energy in MeV is given by: