User:Jeverett1995

Nuclear Fission and Fusion

Nuclear fission is quite simply described as the process by which a large atom (usually Uranium-235 or Plutonium-239) is broken into two smaller atoms. In this process, the mass of one or more neutrons is converted to energy and is expelled in massive amounts in the form of electromagnetic radiation. The equation E = MC^2 represents the energy of any given mass (M) when it is converted to energy. For example, if a neutron weighs 6.5e-27 kg, the energy resulting from it would equal (6.5e-27kg)(8,000,000 m/s)^2 =

Nuclear fusion happens when two particles of much smaller mass (deuterium or tritium, Atomic Numbers 2 and 3, respectively) collide at massive speeds to essentially "knock" a neutron off and convert it to energy. This process is much more powerful per KG of reactive material, largely because Uranium weighs more than 100 times as much as deuterium, but there is a similar amount of mass converted to energy in both reactions.

Contents [hide] 1 The Main Idea 1.1 A Mathematical Model 1.2 A Computational Model 2 Examples 2.1 Simple 2.2 Middling 2.3 Difficult 3 Connectedness 4 History 5 See also 5.1 Further reading 5.2 External links 6 References The Main Idea[edit] There are many reasons nuclear power is preferred over conventional fossil fuel burning. With environmental standards becoming more stringent every year, energy companies are forced to begin seeking options greener and more sustainable. The main advantage of nuclear energy is the sheer power per kg of raw material. For instance, 1KG of Uranium contains 2-3 million times more energy than 1KG of coal. Furthermore, the byproducts are radioactive, but come in much less volume and are all usually safely stored underground.

Nuclear power plants have massive reactors which accelerate neutrons that are to be collided with uranium. These particles must possess enough energy to split the very powerful inter nuclear forces, and when this happens neutrons are then converted from mass to energy.

Fusion is not yet entirely harness able on a large scale, but there are multiple uses. Fusion bombs are significantly more powerful than the fission bombs from WWII. This is, as aforementioned, due to the power per KG being much higher with fusion than for fission. Media:http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/nucene/imgnuk/nucbind.gif

A Mathematical Model[edit] As mentioned, the general equation E=MC^2 can provide significant insight on the energy production from fission. The energy created must have come from mass, and this mass's origin is not always entirely easy to follow and understand.

-mathpic- As you can see, there is a tiny discrepancy in mass between the reactants and the products. The mass lost is all converted to energy by the equation E=MC^2 (but remember units! u and MeV can't be used with this equation!) Where E is in joules, c is in m/s and M is in KG.

-difpic-

One thing to note is just how high the energy required is to split up a nucleus. This is one of the reasons why nuclear energy can create so much power from such small masses.

This information all must mean something. Without nuclear fission and fusion, most particles' energy can be measured with just total Kinetic Energy and Potential Energy due to gravity. Using the rest energy, kinetic energy and potential energy, a system's energy can now be be entirely represented in the case of a nuclear reaction taking place. The massive amount of energy can be accurately accounted for, assuming the masses of the particles before and after the reaction are known.

A Computational Model[edit] As one can imagine, visualizing a nuclear reaction isn't easy. A glowscript program represents

Examples[edit] Two particles exist both of which containing 1 proton and 1 neutron. They collide, 1 proton at 5m/s, the other at 10m/s. The particle then becomes an alpha particle, which has mass 4.00153 AMU. Assuming the collision is completely elastic and all energy is converted to kinetic, what is the final speed of the alpha particle?

Simple[edit] Middling[edit] Difficult[edit] Connectedness[edit] How is this topic connected to something that you are interested in? How is it connected to your major? Is there an interesting industrial application? History[edit] Put this idea in historical context. Give the reader the Who, What, When, Where, and Why.

See also[edit] Are there related topics or categories in this wiki resource for the curious reader to explore? How does this topic fit into that context?

Further reading[edit] Books, Articles or other print media on this topic

External links[edit] [1]

References[edit] This section contains the the references you used while writing this page

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