B Is α-Decay the Same as Nuclear Fission? Understanding the Difference

Haynes Kwon
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Is α-decay same as nuclear fission?
What is the difference?
 
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Typically it is only called "fission" if the process creates two or three nuclei of similar size, but that is purely a naming convention. Cluster decays are somewhere between alpha decays and fission.
 
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No, fission is not alpha decay and alpha decay is generally not considered as fission althoughit technically is a splitting of a nucleus in several parts. Generally, fission usually refers to the splitting of a nucleus in such a way that there are at least two products that carry a significant fraction of the original mass.
 
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Thank you all. May I ask one more?
I don't see why this is not nuclear fusion.

ace;P&space;}\quad&space;+\quad&space;_{&space;0&space;}^{&space;1&space;}{&space;n&space;}.gif
 
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Same thing: Just a matter of convention what is called fusion and what is not. I guess you could call that fusion, although ##(\alpha, n)## would be a more conventional notation for the reaction.
 
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Thank you very much.
 

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