Enough nuclear physics yet? Yes! The last sentence above, with the words "energy is released" is what it's all about.
Unlike in a chemical reaction, where the mass difference of the reactants is immeasurable, the mass change in fission and fusion is significant. Unlike the 6.6 billion calculation I made, possibly correctly, earlier, these reactions generate on the order of a million times the energy of chemical reactions. For example, fusing hydrogen nuclei into helium results in a "mass defect" of .8 per cent that is available as energy, instead of the 100% in the hypothetical chocolate-chip example. Uranium fission is even less efficient. About a tenth of a per cent is released.
What about my "assignment?"
Nuclear fusion, very basically, is the transformation of hydrogen to helium.
I was supposed to talk about the fusion "breakthrough."
