two light nuclei fused together – make bigger heavier nucleus – release energy

fission – a heavy unstable nucleus is split apart and creates energy – less energy released than in fusion
reaction

fusion occurs in nature – stars like the sun – produce energy by fusing light nuclei of hydrogen

mostly hydrogen bombs – triggers fusion with a fission reaction, uses hydrogen isotopes like deuterium
(2H) or tritium (3H).

fusion reactions require extreme amounts of energy to happen, which semi-counteracts the fact that it
releases high amounts of energy

two types – protons and neutron converge, or don’t. converging fusion happens in stars, non-converging
fusion is used by us

energy is released if the mass of the result of the fusion is less than the masses of the individual starting
nuclei

in fusion bombs, or hydrogen bombs, a chamber of hydrogen is located within a shell of plutonium. the
plutonium atoms undergo fission and create enough energy to force the hydrogen nuclei to fuse,
releasing extremely large amounts of energy and resulting in a highly explosive chain reaction. the
explosion of a fusion bomb is much stronger than that of a fission bomb, which leaves out the hydrogen
chamber and gets its energy only from plutonium fission.
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