What Is the Source of Energy in Fission Reactions?

[Infrasound]

As a person with a very basic understanding of nuclear physics, I am curious about the source of energy in a fission reaction.

In the past, I have made the following assumption:

-That the bulk of the energy in a fission reaction is released the form of kinetic energy of the two fragments (barium and kryption nuclei).

I have also made the following assumption (with much less confidence):

-That this kinetic energy results primarily from the electrical repulsion between the 92 protons acting on each other, which causes the two fragments to fly away from each other with great force.

I am worried that this assumption may not be correct in that the electrical repulsion between the protons might not be the main force giving the fragmets most of their kinetic energy.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for any insight.

 

[bcrowell]

Your description is basically right. The strong nuclear force is attractive, so there is a nuclear potential energy involved as well, and it subtracts from the electrical energy being released.

 

[Drakkith]

Yep, the repulsive force between all those protons is the entire basis of fission! Once the positive force begins to overcome the strong nuclear force, there is a chance that the nucleus will split and eject parts of itself. If Protons didn't repel each other things would be strange indeed.