Nuclear energy
== '''''''''''''''''''Nuclear energy is energy released from the atomic nucleus. The conversion of nuclear mass to energy is consistent with the mass-energy equivalence formula E = mc², in which E = energy, m = mass, and c = the speed of light in a vacuum (a physical constant).
Nuclear energy is released by three Exothermic processes:
- Radioactive decay, where a proton or neutron in the radioactive nucleus decays spontaneously a by emitting a particle
- Fusion, two atomic nuclei fuse together to form a heavier nucleus.
- Fission, the breaking of a heavy nucleus into two nuclei.'''''''''''''''' ==
Nuclear energy was first discovered accidentally by French physicist Henri Becquerel in 1896, when he found that photographic plates stored in the dark near uranium were blackened in a manner similar to that due to X-Rays, which had been just recently discovered at the time.[1]
See also
- Nuclear power
- Nuclear marine propulsion
- Nuclear weapon
- Nuclear reactions
- Nuclear fusion
- Henri Becquerel
References
- ^ "Marie Curie - X-rays and Uranium Rays". aip.org. Retrieved 2006-04-10.
External links
Wikiquote has quotations related to Nuclear energy.
- Nuclear Power Engineering Conference "Nuclear energy