why splitting uranium releases energy but we haven’t see any stray (random) nuclear explosion in natural ore deposits?

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And if splitting atom releases energy, why haven’t these energy break from their atom themselves? Isn’t that means the force that bind the atoms are bigger than the energy released?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

It takes (relatively) a lot of uranium in one place to create a nuclear explosion. It’s extremely unlikely for that much to collect in nature in one place.

As for the second question: some elements (those that have bigger nuclei than iron) release energy when their atoms split apart, and some (those that have smaller nuclei than iron) release energy when they fuse (that’s how fusion, or “H-” bombs work).

Even then, for any element that is relatively stable (doesn’t decay very quickly on its own), you need to put some energy in to make fission happen on demand. Like popping a balloon: you need to put in a bit of energy to break the surface, and that releases the rest of the energy that was stored in the tension and pressure and makes the popping sound.

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