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Glite Dictionary
nucleonics

nucleonics

9.9
A branch of science that studies the centers of atoms and how they react
  • noun
  • /njuˈkliːɒnɪks/
  • Specialized
translation icon : nucleónica
  • Testimony by CIA Director Robert M. Gates to the Senate Committee on Government Affairs on 26 January 1992. See also "Fear that Algeria is developing nuclear weapons," Ha'aretz, 11 September 1991, citing Nucleonics Week; and "Dimona et al," The Economist, 14 March 1992.

Examples

  • Students enrolled in the nucleonics course learned about the intricacies of atomic nuclei.

  • "Sire," the underling told him, "the optics and nucleonics register a spacecraft approaching."

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Berkeley Nucleonics Corporation is offering the palmRAD 904 for precision radiation detection, surveillance, and measurement.

    Academic text (2002)

  • The experts needed for such an effort existed in NRL's nucleonics division, rocket sonde branch, and physical optics division, with leadership by Montgomery Johnson, Ernst Krause, and Herbert Friedman, respectively.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The study of nucleonics is essential for understanding atomic reactions in physics.

  • In his research, Dr. Smith focuses on nucleonics to develop new medical imaging techniques.

Synonyms

nuclear physics
vsnucleonics
  • Specialized
6 4.0

The study of the center of an atom and its parts, like protons and neutrons

is broader by including properties and reactions of nuclei

Surface Forms

nucleonics singular
nucleonics plural

Morphology

nucleonics = nucleonic (transparent) = nucle + ic + s

Formed by adjective 'nucleonic' + the '-s' nominalizing suffix (as in 'electronics') to name a field of study, so the meaning is predictable from the base.

Etymology

Nucleonics comes from nucleus, a Latin word meaning 'kernel' or 'core', and the ending -ics like in physics or electronics. So nucleonics is the 'science of the atomic nucleus', which is why it means the study of atomic nuclei.