Nuclear Fission & Nuclear Fusion (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE Co-ordinated Sciences (Double Award)): Revision Note

Nuclear fission & nuclear fusion

Extended tier only

Nuclear fission

• Energy is released from nuclear fuel in nuclear reactors

• This process of releasing energy is called nuclear fission

  • In nuclear fission, large nuclei are split into smaller nuclei

Nuclear fission

In nuclear fission, larger nuclei are split into smaller nuclei, releasing lots of energy in the process

Nuclear fusion

• The Sun releases energy by the process of nuclear fusion 

• Nuclear fusion requires extremely high temperature and pressures that can only be found in the core of a star 

  • In nuclear fusion, small nuclei are joined to form larger nuclei

Nuclear fusion

In nuclear fusion, smaller nuclei are joined into larger nuclei, releasing huge amounts of energy in the process