Nuclear Fission
Nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller, lighter nuclei, often producing gamma photons, and releasing a very large amount of energy.
Nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller, lighter nuclei, often producing gamma photons, and releasing a very large amount of energy. This process is the basis for nuclear power reactors and nuclear weapons.1
Ernst David Bergmann was introduced to the world of the atom and nuclear fission in the early 1920s as a student at the Emil Fischer Institute of the University of Berlin. He was part of a circle of eminent scientists who were at the cutting edge of unraveling the mystery of nuclear fission in the prewar years.1
The smallest amount of fissile material that sustains a chain reaction is the critical mass; the French physicist Francis Perrin was the first to publish a formula for calculating it for uranium, in 1939.1
Sources
- Hersh, Seymour M. The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy. Random House, 1991. Chapter 2. ↩
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