(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 ?
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I never liked the E=mc^2 explanation because while it’s technically true it’s misleading because no protons nor neutrons are destroyed in fission.
The better reason is that in the nuclear core you have two forces, the strong nuclear force and the electromagnetic force. The strong force is super strong over a very very small distance, if this distance is exceeded, the electric forces are far stronger and cause the protons/atoms to push apart from each other.
Basically all we have to do is add a little bit of energy to the nucleus to destabilize it.
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