(This may sound dumb and i think im just missing a basic piece of energy production) I know how nuclear fission works, neutrons are fired as a nucleus which produces a unstable nucleus that then splits into 2 product nuclei and a select number of neutrons and releases an amount of energy (ie. U 235 -> u 236 -> Ba141 + kr92 + 3 neutrons + Q) but why is Q (energy) produced.
Mass is maintained so I don’t see why it needs to release energy especially one so disproportionate to its mass. Is it the break of the strong nuclear force that causes such a large energy output ?
In: 1
E=mc^2.
Mass is converted directly into energy.
Depending on the mass of matter that is converted, that can be quite a bit.
For reference, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs converted about 1 gram (one US dime) of mass for about 1kg of U235 that went critical out of about 65kg of nuclear fuel.
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