THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CHEMICAL AND NUCLEAR REACTIONS Every known substance on earth is composed of very microscopic particles

called atoms. An atom is made up of three sub particles; protons and neutrons found in the nucleus of the atom, and electrons that revolve in their orbits outside the nucleus. For any lasting change to occur in a substance, it must start at the atomic level. Thus, atoms of different substances meet to form new substances by chemical or nuclear reactions. Chemical and nuclear reactions are all chemical processes which occur when atoms, molecules of different substances interact with each other under some specific conditions of heat, pressure etc. However, to be able to differentiate between them, one must know about them individually. Chemical Reactions are chemical processes that involve the transformation of some chemical substances usually called reactants or reagents into new substances referred to as products. For a chemical reaction to take place the electron bonds in the atoms of the reacting substances are broken while new ones are formed. Chemical substances are able to react with each other if the electronic configuration of the elements is such that they can form electrovalent or covalent bonds with the other reactants. The products of chemical reactions are called molecules (group of atoms). A nuclear reaction is the process whereby two nuclei of different atoms, or a nucleus and another subatomic particle collide to form new particles or atoms previously inexistent. Sub-atomic particles usually used to induce nuclear reactions are protons, neutrons, deuteriums or high energy electrons. When the nuclei of the reacting atoms collide with each other or the sub-atomic particles, they dislodge the nuclear bonds already in place and form new bonds. Alpha, beta, or gamma particles may also be emitted in the reaction process. The biggest distinguishing factor between nuclear and chemical reactions is that nuclear reactions as the name implies, take place in the nucleus of the atom, involving the loss or gain of nucleons (protons and neutrons) while chemical reactions take place by the loss, gain or sharing of electrons outside the nucleus. Also, chemical reactions may involve the sharing of electrons by different atoms to form molecules. But when nuclear reactions occur, atoms retain their individuality, and either lose or gain nucleons. Unlike chemical reactions, nuclear reactions require a lot of energy to induce. One of the reacting nuclei is usually bombarded with high momentum by the other nucleus or sub-atomic particle. After the reaction, the energy change is very high too. Energy change of chemical reactions range from 10 to 10^3kj/mol while energy changes for nuclear reactions are usually in the magnitude of 10^8kj/mol. Due to the mass-energy relationship, significant mass changes occur in nuclear reactions. On the contrary, chemical reactions do not involve any mass changes. Moreover, Isotopes of the same elements differ in the amount of nucleons they contain, but usually have the same number of electrons. So they react the same way chemically and differently in nuclear reactions, depending on their stability.