• Question: What is the origin of the word nuclear/nucleus?

    Asked by anon-202040 to Sophia, Sarah, Meirin, George, Emily, Andy on 4 Mar 2019.
    • Photo: Sarah O'Sullivan

      Sarah O'Sullivan answered on 4 Mar 2019:

      My etymology isn’t great but a quick search of the web would suggest that it comes from a Latin term meaning kernel or small nut, which makes sense as the nucleus is the small kernel at the centre of an atom

    • Photo: George Fulton

      George Fulton answered on 4 Mar 2019:

      Absolutely what Sarah said. The nucleus is like the ‘nut’ (the word nucular) you find inside a plum. Nuclear fission and fusion refer to the splitting and joining of these nuts or nuclei. In fission, the nut is split into smaller nuts and in fusion, two nuts are forced together to form a new nut!

      I don’t think I’ve ever said the word ‘nut’ that times in a paragraph before….

    • Photo: Sophia Pells

      Sophia Pells answered on 5 Mar 2019:

      Like Sarah and George have said!

    • Photo: Andy Buckley

      Andy Buckley answered on 5 Mar 2019:

      Like everyone else said! But I’ll add that in German (which is way more literal), nuclear physics is “kernphysik” (like kernel). The origin is a bit clearer.

      Particle physics is a direct translation: “teilchenphysik”, because a “teil” is a thing, so a “teilchen” is a little thing. “Thinglet physics” 🙂

    • Photo: Emily Lewis

      Emily Lewis answered on 5 Mar 2019:

      Looks like these guys have you covered!

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