CHAPTER 4. ATOMICNUCLEI 4.9
Nuclear power - An energy alternative or environmental hazard?Your teacher will dividethe class into teams. Some of the teams will be ’pro’ nuclear power
while the others will be’anti’ nuclear power.4.9 Nuclear Fusion
ESBAS
Nuclear fusion is the joining togetherof the nuclei of two atoms to form a heavier nucleus. If the
atoms involved are small, this process is accompanied by the release of energy. It is the nuclear fusion
of elements that causesstars to shine and hydrogen bombs to explode.As with nuclear fission then,
there are both positive and negative uses of nuclear fusion.DEFINITION: Nuclear fusion
The joining together of the nuclei of two atoms to form a larger nucleus.You will remember thatnuclei naturally repel one another because of the electrostatic force between
their positively chargedprotons. So, in order tobring two nuclei together, a lot of energy mustbe
supplied if fusion is to take place. If two nuclei can be brought closeenough together however, the
electrostatic force is overwhelmed by the more powerful strong nuclear force which only operatesover
short distances. If this happens, nuclear fusion can take place. Inside the cores of stars, the temperature
is high enough for hydrogen fusion to take placebut scientists have so farbeen unsuccessful in making
the process work in thelaboratory. One of the huge advantages of nuclear fusion, if it could be made
to work in the laboratory, is that it is a relatively environmentally friendlysource of energy. The helium
that is produced is not radioactive or poisonousand does not carry the dangers of nuclear fission.4.10 Nucleosynthesis ESBAT
An astronomer namedEdwin Hubble discovered in the 1920’s that the universe is expanding. He
measured that far-awaygalaxies are moving away from the Earth at great speed, and the further away
they are, the faster theyare moving.Extension: What are galaxies?
Galaxies are huge clusters of stars and matter inthe universe. The Earthis part of the Milky
Way galaxy which is shaped like a very large spiral. Astronomers can measure the light coming
from distant galaxies using telescopes. Edwin Hubble was also able to measure the velocities
of galaxies. Galaxy zoo(http://www.galaxyzoo.org/) is a website that allows you to classify
galaxies.These observations ledpeople to see that the universe is expanding. Italso led to the ’Big Bang’ hy-
pothesis. The ’Big Bang’ hypothesis is an idea about how the universemay have started. According
to this theory, the universe started off at the beginning of time as a point which then exploded and