Fission barrier

<p> In <a href="/facts/Nuclear_physics/fzQbt1aF">nuclear physics</a> and <a href="/facts/Nuclear_chemistry/aJulAlTD">nuclear chemistry</a>, the fission barrier is the <a href="/facts/Activation_energy/GqkgPvo0">activation energy</a> required for a <a href="/facts/Atomic_nucleus/orpIm5Xl">nucleus</a> of an atom to undergo <a href="/facts/Nuclear_fission/LfkIylvm">fission</a>. This barrier may also be defined as the minimum amount of energy required to deform the nucleus to the point where it is irretrievably committed to the fission process. The energy to overcome this barrier can come from either <a href="/facts/Neutron/oRCM1geb">neutron</a> bombardment of the nucleus, where the additional energy from the neutron brings the nucleus to an excited state and undergoes deformation, or through <a href="/facts/Spontaneous_fission/0QuJoVKI">spontaneous fission</a>, where the nucleus is already in an excited and deformed state.
</p><p>Efforts to understand fission processes are ongoing and have been a very difficult problem since fission was first discovered by <a href="/facts/Lise_Meitner/BH51ypJ2">Lise Meitner</a>, <a href="/facts/Otto_Hahn/7alx1Db7">Otto Hahn</a>, and <a href="/facts/Fritz_Strassmann/UJLrswVu">Fritz Strassmann</a> in 1938. While nuclear physicists understand many aspects of the fission process, there is currently no encompassing theoretical framework that gives a satisfactory account of the basic observations.
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Fission barrier open-in-new

Fission barrier