nuclear reaction

noun

physics

: a process in which the nucleus of an atom is changed by being split apart or joined with the nucleus of another atom

Examples of nuclear reaction in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Yes, the sun produces light from a nuclear reaction in its core. —Rhett Allain, WIRED, 24 Jan. 2025

In 1917, while at Victoria University of Manchester in England, Rutherford was the first to intentionally split the atom through a nuclear reaction. —Kristen Waggoner, Newsweek, 21 Jan. 2025

But this was no mere flick of the finger: For the first time in history, a nuclear reaction had generated a significant amount of electricity. —Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 Dec. 2024

If there's a great enough concentration of fuel, the result is a self-sustaining nuclear reaction. —David Szondy, New Atlas, 28 Dec. 2024

Development of the Experimental Breeder Reactor-I, as the reactor that powered the lightbulbs was known, began in the late 1940s, as the United States government sought to develop a nuclear reaction process that would extend its finite supply of uranium. —Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 Dec. 2024

In 2013, weapons development at the lab’s plutonium facility temporarily ceased after a series of incidents, including one in which staff members arranged plutonium rods together, for a photo opportunity, in a scenario that could have sparked an enormous nuclear reaction. —Abe Streep, The New Yorker, 27 Dec. 2024

The result is a fuel assembly that is extremely durable, resistant to heat and corrosion, and produces a self-limiting nuclear reaction that cannot go out of control. —David Szondy, New Atlas, 26 Sep. 2024

Mistaking forbearance for weakness, NATO spokespersons have scoffed, contending that since previous provocations elicited no nuclear reaction, the West can cross any and all Russian red lines with impunity. —Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 25 Nov. 2024

Rhymes for nuclear reaction

• benefaction
• counteraction
• interaction
• liquefaction
• putrefaction
• rarefaction
• satisfaction
• stupefaction
• tumefaction
• abstraction
• attraction
• compaction