Fission
Fission is the opposite of fusion. In nuclear fission, atoms come apart rather than fuze together. Energy is given off when nuclei are broken apart. Fusion occurs naturally throughout the entire Universe. However, it can also be manipulated by science and used for things such as creating devastating weapons and as a power source. Sometimes nuclei just are not very stable, and with time they naturally break apart. In this case, they undergo beta decay or inverse beta decay. This means a neutron decays into a proton, electron, and energy. In the case of weapons, we compress two pieces of Uranium-235 into a high-density mass. Then, rapid fire fission occurs, creating more neutrons, thus more fission. It is scary to think we have that amount of power and that we are able to manipulate such a natural process.
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