this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2023
904 points (96.6% liked)
Memes
45608 readers
1604 users here now
Rules:
- Be civil and nice.
- Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Splitting Helium doesn't release energy.
....I need to know more. We can just break open helium all Willy nilly? What's the biggest atom we can safely split?
Atoms lighter than iron take energy to split, and release energy when fusing. For atoms heavier than iron, it's the opposite.
And what happens with iron ?
You lose energy if you split or fuse it
It extinguishes the stars it forms in. Once you have enough Iron, and the amount is actually quite small compared to the rest of the mass of the star, that triggers a nova. This is due to Iron needing extra energy to either fuse or fission.