Why does splitting an atom create energy? And why is it so much energy?
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Basically, for very advanced physical chemistry/physics reasons, every atom’s nucleus wants to be iron. Iron is like the bottom of a valley – going either way (adding or subtracting protons and neutrons) takes energy. So if an atom is smaller than iron, it wants to fuse to become iron. If an atom is larger than iron, it wants to split to become iron. Just like rolling a ball downhill, moving closer to iron releases energy.
Why so much energy? Well, as another commenter said – the strong nuclear force, the one that holds nuclei together – is veeeeery strong.
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