Question

What happens to the mass of atoms during a nuclear reaction.

Answer 1

In nuclear reactions one type of sub-atomic particle change into another, this destabilizes the nucleus forcing it to split and release a certain amount of energy in the form of massless particles

Answer 2

energy can't be created or destroyed, but mass particles can decay or tranform into others as long as the total mass/energy (remeber E=MC2) is conserved, in nuclear reactions one type of sub-atomic particle change into another, this destabilizes the nucleus forcing it to split and release a certain amount of energy in the form of massless particles