Description: Nuclear fission is a process where the nucleus of a heavy element splits into two lighter nuclei. The mass of the remaining material is less than that of the original nucleus, while the deficit in mass is released as energy.

The two lighter nuclei produced by nuclear fission are often radioactive themselves and can release further energy through radioactive decay.

Related Terms:

• Nuclear Fusion
• Nucleus

Term and definition status: This term and its definition have been approved by a research astronomer and a teacher

The OAE Multilingual Glossary is a project of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) in collaboration with the IAU Office of Astronomy Outreach (OAO). The terms and definitions were chosen, written and reviewed by a collective effort from the OAE, the OAE Centers and Nodes, the OAE National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs) and other volunteers. You can find a full list of credits here. All glossary terms and their definitions are released under a Creative Commons CC BY-4.0 license and should be credited to "IAU OAE".