Chapter 4 Essay Question and News Article Part A What is the difference between fission and fusion Where do they occur in the Universe Include human made events and devices What elements are typical for fission For fusion Fission and Fusion are both nuclear reactions that generate energy but there is a definite difference between them Fission is the splitting of a nucleus which results in two nuclei while fusion is where two nuclei combine into one and energy is released from them While they are somehow related because they are the opposite reactions of each other these two processes are extremely different Nuclear fission is where one nucleus becomes two This is because the nucleus is heavy with energy it splits into two nuclei with lighter energy The one nucleus is too unstable to support itself meaning it has the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons so its reaction is to spilt into two The elements that are typically present during fission is uranium and plutonium The energy that results from this process is what is used to heat water in nuclear reactors and eventually creates electricity Nuclear fusion is the exact opposite of fission While fission is the splitting of the nucleus fusion is the merging of two nuclei The element that is usually present during fusion is hydrogen Fusion is the energy that powers the sun atoms merge under extreme pressure and temperature and a vast amount of energy is released during this process This reaction is vital to human survival If fusion did not occur daily then there would not be a sun to warm the earth and life as people know it would drastically change Fission and fusion are both nuclear reactions and produce energy but their energy is not used in the same way Fission is a reaction that does not normally occur in nature it is something that is produced though human experiments Fusion is more unpredictable because it is a natural occurrence This is able to explain why fission is easier to control because it is created and controlled by humans while fusion is a natural process and is hard to be controlled Because fission can be controlled it its what is used in nuclear power reactors while fusion is not utilized because the reaction is not easily controlled along with being super expensive to produce Though fission and fusion both play vital roles in producing certain energy Part B Read and find an article on physics or technology from some serious website Give the link to that article and summarize the article drawing connections to class and or explaining what you do not understand about the article Recently in Antarctica there has been particles that are being found that are blowing scientist s minds Cosmic rays are nothing new to science but they are now doing something that they never have done before Cosmic rays have been found that are being blasted though space into the earth then right back out The information scientists have called Standard Model SM of particle physics gives no evidence to how this is happening There have been two instances where this has been detected These episodes have been discovered by NASA s Antarctic Impulse Transient Antenna and was the reason why they were noticed in the first place The antenna is specifically designed to hunt cosmic rays in outer space so when this was detected the science community was stunned Since these detections everyone in the science community has been trying to figure out how this is happening coming up with all sorts of answers though no one has been able to actually pinpoint the exact reason why this happening Some examples of the arguments that have been proposed have been that this is a different type of particle then originally thought Another person argued that there is no particle that would be able to travel through Earth in the way that it did so the Antarctic Impulse Transient Antenna must of malfunctioned and misread information While some of the scientific world has their speculations on what could be causing this there is still not an answer that explains or proves how these particles are being able to travel through space enter the Earth s atmosphere then be projected back into space One thing I am having a hard time understanding is how scientists are examining these particles and are being able to come up with answers If this is something they have never seen before how are they able to make these claims without having any knowledge of it I know science is centered around discovering new things but I am curious how you go about knowing how to exam this particle if it technically does not exist Part A Energy Duke Fission vs Fusion What s the Difference Duke Energy Nuclear Information Center Duke Energy Corporation nuclear duke energy com 2013 01 30 fission vsfusion whats the difference Part B Letzter Rafi Bizarre Particles Keep Flying Out of Antarctica s Ice and They Might Shatter Modern Physics Scientific American 29 Sept 2018 www scientificamerican com article bizarre particles keep flying out of antarcticas iceand they might shatter modern physics
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