Editing Atomic energy

{{Short description|Energy carried by atoms}}
{{Wiktionary|atomic energy}}

'''Atomic energy''' or '''energy of atoms''' is energy carried by [[atoms]].  The term originated in [[1903 in science|1903]] when [[Ernest Rutherford]] began to speak of the possibility of atomic energy.<ref name="Asimov, Isaac Page 125">[[Isaac Asimov]],  ''Atom: Journey Across the Sub-Atomic Cosmos'', New York:1992 Plume, {{ISBN|0452268346}}, Page 125</ref>  [[H. G. Wells]] popularized the phrase "splitting the atom",{{Citation needed | date = November 2020}} before discovery of the [[atomic nucleus]].  

Atomic energy includes:

*[[Nuclear binding energy]], the energy required to split a nucleus of an atom.
*[[Nuclear potential energy]], the potential energy of the particles inside an atomic nucleus.
*[[Nuclear reaction]], a process in which nuclei or nuclear particles interact, resulting in products different from the initial ones; see also [[nuclear fission]] and [[nuclear fusion]].
*[[Radioactive decay]], the set of various processes by which unstable atomic nuclei (nuclides) emit subatomic particles.

Atomic energy is the source of [[nuclear power]], which uses sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. It is also the source of the explosive force of an [[atomic bomb]].

== See also ==
*[[Atomic Age]]
*[[Index of environmental articles]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Forms of energy]]
[[Category:Nuclear energy]]