system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Why does U-235 split when hit with a neutron instead of becoming U-236?
gpt
>Why does U-235 split when hit with a neutron instead of becoming U-236?

It can do that too. Fission is not the only possible outcome. It can scatter (elastically or inelastically), or undergo radiative capture, or a whole host of other nuclear reactions. Each of these reactions has its own probability, and all of them are functions of energy.

But the ^(235)U(n,f) (neutron-induced fission) cross section is pretty high. For thermal neutrons, the fission cross section is almost 6 times higher than the capture cross section, so fission is about 6 times more likely.