# [SCI] Nuclear Physics
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**Nuclear Physics** is the study of atomic nuclei — their structure, reactions, and the forces binding protons and neutrons — leading to fission, fusion, and the understanding of stellar energy.
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## Overview
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James Chadwick discovered the neutron (1932), completing the nuclear model. Enrico Fermi demonstrated neutron-induced radioactivity (1934). Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner, and Fritz Strassmann discovered nuclear fission (1938). Fermi achieved the first controlled chain reaction (Chicago Pile-1, 1942). The binding energy per nucleon explains why fission of heavy nuclei and fusion of light nuclei both release energy (E = mc²). Nuclear physics underpins nuclear power, nuclear medicine (PET, radiotherapy), nuclear weapons, and stellar astrophysics.
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## Key Figures & Recognition
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- **James Chadwick** (1891–1974): Discovery of neutron. **Nobel Prize 1935**.
- **Enrico Fermi** (1901–1954): Neutron-induced fission, first reactor. **Nobel Prize 1938**.
- **Otto Hahn** (1879–1968): Discovery of fission. **Nobel Prize 1944** (controversially, without Meitner).
- **Lise Meitner** (1878–1968): Co-discovered fission, provided theoretical explanation. No Nobel (widely considered an injustice).
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## Seminal Papers
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- Chadwick, J. "Possible Existence of a Neutron." *Nature* 129 (1932).
- Hahn, O. & Strassmann, F. "Über den Nachweis und das Verhalten der bei der Bestrahlung des Urans entstehenden Erdalkalimetalle." *Naturwissenschaften* 27 (1939).
- Meitner, L. & Frisch, O.R. "Disintegration of Uranium by Neutrons." *Nature* 143 (1939).
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# Parents
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* [SCI] Quantum Mechanics⏎