What part of the atom is fusing in nuclear fusion?

Nuclear fusion is when two small, light nuclei join together to make one heavy nucleus. Fusion reactions occur in stars where two hydrogen nuclei fuse together under high temperatures and pressure to form a nucleus of a helium isotope .

How does nuclear fusion produce light?

This is what happens to the hydrogen gas in the core of the Sun. It gets squeeze together so tightly that four hydrogen nuclei combine to form one helium atom. This is called nuclear fusion. In the process some of the mass of the hydrogen atoms is converted into energy in the form of light.

What does the nuclear fusion produces?

Fusion powers the Sun and stars as hydrogen atoms fuse together to form helium, and matter is converted into energy. Hydrogen, heated to very high temperatures changes from a gas to a plasma in which the negatively-charged electrons are separated from the positively-charged atomic nuclei (ions).

What is the fusion of atoms called?

Nuclear fusion is the process by which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or “fuse,” to form a single heavier nucleus.

Why do lighter elements undergo fusion?

the plot of nuclear binding energy per nucleon versus mass number shows that for the lightest elements, the nuclear stability increases with increasing mass number. So, lighter elements such as hydrogen and lithium undergo nuclear fusion.

Which is a characteristic of nuclear fusion but not nuclear fission?

Both fission and fusion are nuclear reactions that produce energy, but the applications are not the same. Fission is the splitting of a heavy, unstable nucleus into two lighter nuclei, and fusion is the process where two light nuclei combine together releasing vast amounts of energy.

What do you mean by nuclear fusion?

In simple terms nuclear fusion is a process in which one or more light nuclei fuse together to generate a relatively heavier nucleus in which in there is some mass deficiency that is released as energy, and the quantity of energy released follows Einstein’s formula: E = mc2, in which E is the energy in joules, m is the …

What is a nuclear fusion quizlet?

nuclear fusion. the process in which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or “fuse”, to form a single heavier nucleus. This is usually accompanied by the release or absorption of large quantities of energy.