You always think about nuclear weapons when you look at this title, right? In reality, they are good for us.
Nuclear Fusion
Nuclear fusion is useful when it comes to elements lighter than iron. When the pressure is so high that they cannot reject to touch by electromagnetic force. The nuclei start to crash into each other and form another element. In fact, every star is powered by fusion, almost all are fusing hydrogen into helium. How do you get light and heat without a star?
Also, it is responsible for creating heavy elements. Although they are heavier than iron, in extreme conditions in a supernova, the nuclei can fuse. Elements such as iodine, copper, zinc, which are good for our bodies, are mostly made by these explosions.
We can directly turn hydrogen into helium or use the carbon-nitrogen-oxygen cycle for heavier stars. Also, we can use nuclear fusion for a safe and clean energy source but we need to test this technology more to be a common thing.
Nuclear Fission
Nuclear fission is a process that a neutron slams into a heavy nucleus and split into more neutrons and a lighter nuclei. This is the source of nuclear energy and it is a clean, renewable type of energy. But it has a threat: When it is out of control, it may explode because of continuous fission.
There is also a type of fission called spontaneous fission. It falls an atom apart by the weak nuclear force. By the way, radioactive atoms such as uranium and plutonium are good at fission. That’s because they have a lower binding energy like hydrogen for fusion, so they are easier to break down by a single neutron.
Radioactive Decay
Most of the elements in your life are stable, however, some are not and undergoes a decay by weak nuclear force. Unstable radioactive elements, is present in nature, even in our body. Mostly, they are uranium and thorium, which has a long half-life.
There are a few ways to decay an atom. Alpha decay releases a helium nucleus, which is an alpha particle. Beta decay turns a neutron into a proton, which escapes an electron. There is also another type of decay, which releases a positron from a proton. Moreover, a nucleus can capture an electron, turning a proton into a neutron.
Furthermore, an atom can emit a proton or a neutron. Some types of decay, for example, beta decay, can come in pairs. That means at that time, 2 beta decays happen simultaneously. Also, some isotopes, such as hydrogen-7 (7H), lasts only for yoctoseconds, meaning that even a photon, the fastest thing in the Universe, cannot go past this atom even once before it breaks down.