Earth Sciences 1086F/G Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Nebular Hypothesis, Atomic Nucleus, Atomic Number
5 Aug 2020
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The nucleus is surrounded by electrons which are negatively charged and majority of the time balance the positive charge of the nucleus so that the atom as a whole has a neutral charge. Ion: an atom with either a negative charge (has more electrons) or with a positive charge (has less electrons). The difference between this and radioactivity is that radioactivity is spontaneous, but people are able to make. Fission happen as this is how we make energy in nuclear reactors around the world: fusion: the combination of two lighter atoms/isotopes to make one heavier atom/isotope plus energy. It is not classified as a radioactive process because although the heavier atom produced may be radioactive, it may also be stable. The thing about fusion reactions is the vast amount of energy that can be produced (think hydrogen bomb: supernova: the explosive death of a massive star, atomic number: the number of protons in the nucleus of the atom.
