Two deuterium nuclei fuse to form a helium-3 nucleus and a free neutron according to…

PHYSICS · Multi-part · A Level · Physics · Nuclear physics · Nuclear physics

Problem

Two deuterium nuclei

{}^{2}_{1}\text{H}

fuse to form a helium-3 nucleus

{}^{3}_{2}\text{He}

and a free neutron according to the reaction

{}^{2}_{1}\text{H}+{}^{2}_{1}\text{H}\rightarrow{}^{3}_{2}\text{He}+n

. Given masses:

{}^{2}_{1}\text{H}

2.01355\,\text{u}

{}^{3}_{2}\text{He}

3.01550\,\text{u}

Neutron :

1.00866\,\text{u}

Take

1\,\text{u}=931.5\,\text{MeV}/c^{2}

. (a) Compute the mass defect for one fusion event. (b) Find the energy released in MeV. (c) Convert the energy obtained in part (b) to joules. (d) Estimate the total energy, in kilowatt-hours, that would be released if

1.0\,\text{g}

of deuterium were completely consumed in this reaction. (Avogadro number

N_{A}=6.02\times10^{23}\,\text{mol}^{-1}

Related theory

Nuclear Fusion
Nuclear Reactions
Mass-Energy Equivalence
Nuclear fusion (stars as energy sources)
Nuclei
Nuclear physics

Browse the problem library