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Nucleus

  • Atoms form the fundamental backbone of all matter. For a few centuries, we even assumed that they were the smallest indivisible unit of matter
  • However an atom is composed of sub atomic particles, such as proton, neutron and electron, with the electron swirling around a nucleus.
  • The electrostatic force of attractions between nuetron and proton are so high that the atom doesnt destabilise.
  • This energy is what we seek to understand and control
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Speaker: Dr Vellusamy

Recordings1:Nucleus in a nutshell

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Fission

  • Nuclear fission was discovered on 19 December 1938 in Berlin by German chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann and physicists Lise Meitner and Otto Robert Frisch.
  • Nuclear fission involves splitting the atom, more specifically the nuclei of the atom to break the bond, that releases energy.
  • This is done by bombarding the material with a neutron to make the atom unstable so that it breaks down to lighter nuclie and release energy.
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Speaker: Dr Vellusamy

Recordings2:Fission

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Fusion

  • American chemist William Draper Harkins was the first to propose the concept of nuclear fusion in 1915.
  • In nuclear fusion, 2 lighter nuclei are forcefully combined to form a heavier nuclei.
  • In this process, a small amount matter is converted into large amounts of energy.
  • This process is how a star is able maintain its energy output and not collapse under its gravity.
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Speaker: Dr Vellusamy

Recordings3:Fusion