Nuclear Reaction

Name:
Nuclear Reaction
Detailed information:
A reaction that involves a change in the nucleus of an atom, as opposed to a chemical reaction in which only the electrons take part. Nuclear reactions usually result in release of tremendous amounts of energy, while the energy obtained from chemical reactions is slight; e.g., rupture of a chemical bond evolves approximately 5 eV compared with 200 MeV resulting from the fission of an atomic nucleus. There are three types of nuclear reactions: (1) transmutation (radioactive decay), (2) fission, and (3) fusion (thermonuclear).