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I used to be confused about how both fission and fusion can release energy. It turns out elements lighter than Iron release energy when they combine (fusion),
by cookingrobot 8y ago
I used to be confused about how both fission and fusion can release energy.
It turns out elements lighter than Iron release energy when they combine (fusion), and elements heavier than Iron release it when they split (fission). So for any element, it only releases energy as it gets closer to becoming Iron. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_peak https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_peak
- Roboprog 8y agoThere’s a certain amount of irony (iron-y?) that heavy fissionable materials are formed when fusion stalls: the core of a large star is turned into iron, fusion “goes out”, then the star collapses and goes supernova. Heavier elements are formed in the “bounce” when the outer layers of the star crush down the suddenly cold(er) core, converting the kinetic energy into reactions that absorb energy by fusing heavy elements. Or something along that line, anyway.