nucleonics

American  

[noo-klee-on-iks, nyoo-] / ˌnu kliˈɒn ɪks, ˌnyu- /

noun

(used with a singular verb)

1. the branch of science that deals with nuclear phenomena, as radioactivity, fission, or fusion, especially practical applications, as in industrial engineering.

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nucleonics British  

/ ˌnjuːklɪˈɒnɪks /

noun

1. (functioning as singular) the branch of physics concerned with the applications of nuclear energy

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nucleonics Scientific  

/ no̅o̅′klē-ŏn′ĭks /

1. The study of the quantum behavior of atomic nuclei, in particular of the transitions they make between discrete energy levels as they emit and give off radiation.

2. Development of instruments for use in nuclear research.

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Other Word Forms

• nucleonic adjective
• nucleonically adverb

Etymology

Origin of nucleonics

First recorded in 1940–45; nucleon + -ics

Example Sentences

They are giving the Atomic Age a mighty shove by designing a power-producing pile, the most promising peacetime application of nucleonics.

From Time Magazine Archive

Can the physicists with their nucleonics and the cyberneticists with their computers wash themselves of culpability for the blinding light they have created?

From Time Magazine Archive

To apply its fabulous technology, the U.S. military has become an extraordinary teacher of everything from astronautics to electronics to nucleonics to teaching itself.

From Time Magazine Archive

Sproul raised cash for young Physicist Ernest O. Lawrence to build the first cyclotron, and Berkeley was suddenly the nucleonics hotspot of the world.

From Time Magazine Archive

"I've got a hunch that, just as chemistry and nucleonics are both really branches of physics, so psychotherapy and Brownlee's process are branches of some higher, more inclusive science—but that doesn't have a name, either."

From Nor Iron Bars a Cage.... by Garrett, Randall

Related Words

• particle physics
• quantum mechanics