A commonly cited induced fission reaction is The nuclear masses (in u) are provided…

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

Problem

A commonly cited induced fission reaction is

_{92}^{235}\text{U}+_{0}^{1}\text{n}\;\longrightarrow\;_{56}^{141}\text{Ba}+_{36}^{92}\text{Kr}+3\,_{0}^{1}\text{n}

The nuclear masses (in u) are provided below: •

m(_{92}^{235}\text{U}) = 235.043930\,\text{u}

•

m(_{56}^{141}\text{Ba}) = 140.914411\,\text{u}

•

m(_{36}^{92}\text{Kr}) = 91.926156\,\text{u}

•

m(_{0}^{1}\text{n}) = 1.008665\,\text{u}

Take

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

and

1\,\text{MeV} = 1.602\times10^{-13}\,\text{J}

. (a) Calculate the total mass of the reactants and the total mass of the products. Hence determine the mass difference for the reaction. (b) Compute the energy released per fission event in MeV. (c) Express the energy found in part (b) in joules.

Related theory

Mass-Energy Equivalence
Nuclear Binding Energy
Mass defect and binding energy
Nuclear physics
Nuclei

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