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Question 6 Give a short description of each type of radiative emission from radi

ID: 1710520 • Letter: Q

Question

Question 6

Give a short description of each type of radiative emission from radioactive decay: alpha decay beta decay gamma decay ^235 U usually decays by emission of which kind of radiation? Very infrequently, ^235 U undergoes spontaneous fission and emission of what kind of radiation? After three half-lives, the remaining fraction of radioactive isotope is 1/x where x = Why is so much energy released when an atom like ^235 U undergoes fission? Why is so much energy released in the fusion reactions of hydrogen isotopes to form helium? How is plutonium 239 formed in a uranium reactor? By 23 March 2011, neutron radiation had been observed outside the reactors 13 times at the Fukushima I site. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation effects from Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster What does this mean must have been continuing in the reactor material? Consider the radium isotope ^226 _88 Ra. How many neutrons are in the nucleus?

Explanation / Answer

The amount of energy released during fusion nuclear reaction is governed by Eienstien's relation E=m*c^2 where m is the mass of products minus mass of reactants and c is the velocity of light.

The value of m is in a.m.u. and c^2 is quite a very large value of order 10^17 giving rise energy released to 931 MeV per a.m.u. of the m.

That is why energy released in nuclear fusion reaction is enormous.