Two identical medium-mass nuclei are hypothetically fused to form a single nucleus:

PHYSICS · Multi-part · CBSE · Physics · Nuclei · Nuclei

Problem

Two identical medium-mass nuclei

^{40}\!\mathrm{Ca}

are hypothetically fused to form a single

^{80}\!\mathrm{Kr}

nucleus:

^{40}\!\mathrm{Ca} + {}^{40}\!\mathrm{Ca} \;\longrightarrow\; {}^{80}\!\mathrm{Kr}

. Atomic masses (in

u

) are:

^{40}\!\mathrm{Ca}=39.962591

^{80}\!\mathrm{Kr}=79.916378

. (a) Calculate

Q

-value for the fusion event (b) Energy change per nucleon (c) Reasoning on natural favourability (d) Speculation on practical usefulness