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Nuclear fission

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An aerial view of the Philippsburg nuclear power plant in Germany.

What is Nuclear Fission?

Nuclear fission is a special way that the tiny center of an atom can split apart. When it splits, it lets out a lot of energy, more than we get from regular fuels like coal or gas. This energy can make bright light and also create new kinds of matter.

How Was it Discovered?

In 1938, four smart scientists made an amazing find. Their names were Otto Hahn, Fritz Strassmann, Lise Meitner, and Otto Robert Frisch. They were studying the tiny parts inside atoms and saw that big atoms could break apart when hit by tiny particles called neutrons. This breaking apart was named nuclear fission because it is like how some living cells divide.

Why Do We Know About It?

People learned about nuclear fission because it can help us make energy in special power plants. These plants use the energy from fission to create electricity in a safe, controlled way. This has helped people get power without using as much coal or gas. The discovery of nuclear fission opened new doors in science and led to many new tools and ways to study the world.

Images

Portrait of scientists Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner in their laboratory in Berlin, circa 1912.
An experimental setup used in 1938 to discover nuclear fission, showing early scientific equipment and vacuum tubes.
The first nuclear reactor, built in 1942 at the University of Chicago, where scientists achieved the first controlled nuclear chain reaction.
Illustration showing the stages of nuclear fission using the liquid drop model.

Related articles

Atom
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Fritz Strassmann

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Nuclear fission, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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