= Fission-fragment mass distribution
The yield of fragments as a function of fragment <mass number> or mass fraction. Low-excitation actinide <nuclear fission> commonly gives two peaks, corresponding to complementary lighter and heavier fragments. Smooth <liquid-drop fission energy> by itself does not predict this yield: nuclear-shell structure and the dynamics of the descent toward scission matter. Increasing excitation can weaken shell effects and change the distribution. A two-peaked illustrative curve is therefore not a universal measured spectrum.
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