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Chapter 43: Q4Q (page 1329)

Do the initial fragments formed by fission have more protons than neutrons, more neutrons than protons, or about the same number of each?

Short Answer

Expert verified

The initial fragments formed by fission have more neutrons than protons.

Step by step solution

01

Nuclear Fission

Nuclear fission is the phenomenon in which the nucleus of a heavier atom disintegrates into smaller nuclei due to the bombardment of a neutron. The heavier nucleus disintegrates as the ratio of neutron and proton becomes high.

02

Identification of the given condition of neutron and protons in initial fragments

The number of neutrons in the initial fragments of nuclear fission is more than the number of protons because nuclear fission is initiated by the neutron, and the number of protons decreases in the decay process initially fast. The number of protons decreases fast due to the repulsive force among the protons in the same nuclei.

Therefore, the initial fragments formed by fission have more neutrons than protons.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

If a fusion process requires absorption of energy, does the average binding energy per nucleon increase or decrease?

Question:(a) A neutron of mass mnand kinetic energy K makes a head-on elastic collision with a stationary atom of mass . Show that the fractional kinetic energy loss of the neutron is given by ∆KK=4mnm(m+mn)2.

Find role="math" localid="1661942719139" ∆KKfor each of the following acting as the stationary atom:

(b) hydrogen,

(c) deuterium,

(d) carbon, and

(e) lead.

(f) If K=1.00MeV initially, how many such head-on collisions would it take to reduce the neutron’s kinetic energy to a thermal value (0.25 eV) if the stationary atoms it collides with are deuterium, a commonly used moderator? (In actual moderators, most collisions are not head-on.)

Question: Assume that immediately after the fission of U236according to Eq. 43-1, the resulting Xe140andSr94nuclei are just touching at their surfaces. (a) Assuming the nuclei to be spherical, calculate the electric potential energy associated with the repulsion between the two fragments. (Hint: Use Eq. 42-3 to calculate the radii of the fragments.) (b) Compare this energy with the energy released in a typical fission event.

A 200 MW fission reactor consumes half its fuel in 3.00 y . How much U235did it contain initially? Assume that all the energy generated arises from the fission of U235 and that this nuclide is consumed only by the fission process.

The fission properties of the plutonium isotope Pu239are very similar to those of U235. The average energy released per fission is 180 MeV. How much energy, in MeV, is released if all the atoms in 1.0 kg of purePu239 undergo fission?
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