~ "C~""1fr-

I ';:f'\' O mol,oul of M,O. W, then prooltd to fIIMI DumDIr GI nr IIVIII ....... - -

_I,oul in th. roaetantl. Fluorine balance from the produotllndlol' Indlcat. the 'm"llon 01 ,l"trom_an.tlc rlO,a"un \I' ---- ._- -. -

that WI need rour moleculel. , Thul
U02 + 4HF-2HaO + UF.
In thil reaction the resulting water vapor is driven off. Uranium te-
trafluoride is used further to prepare uranium hexafloride (UF6) which
I. used in the separation of the U m and U m isotopes of uranium by the
lueous diffusion method. (Fluorine has only one isotope, F 19, and thus
combinations of molecules of uranium and fluorine have molecular
m 1 depending only on the uranium isotope in the molecule.)
It sheuld be pointed out that chemical reactions, like nuclear reactions,
art either exothermic or endothermic. That is, they either release or
ablorb energy. Since energy and mass are convertible according to
Einltein's law, Eq. I-I, chemical reactions involving energy do undergo
changes in mass Sm (a mass decrease in exothermic reactions and an
Increase in endothermic ones), just as nuclear reactions do. However,
tlvely. Thel. have no ,"ect on equation balance since both have zero Z
(t-3b) and A, but often carry large quantities of the resulting energy.
Although the mass numbers are preserved in a nuclear reaction, the
masses of the isotopes on both sides of the equation do not balance.
Exothermic or endothermic energy is obtained when there is a reduction
or an increase in mass between reactants and products, respectively.
Example 1-1. One exothermic reaction occurs when common aluminum
is bombarded with high-energy a particles (helium-4 nuclei) and is transmuted
into Si30, a heavy isotope of silicon whose most abundant isotope has mass
number 28. In the reaction, a small particle is emitted. Write the complete
reaction and calculate the change in mass.
Solution. The reaction is
AP' + He4_ Si30 + xA, z,
1) 1 "

the quantities of energy resulting from a chemical reaction are very small where X is a symbol of a yet unknown particle. Balancing gives
compared with those in a nuclear reaction, and the fraction of mass of the
reactants that is lost or gained is minutely small. This is why we assume 2.=13+2-14=1 and A4=27+4-30=1
a preservation of mass in chemical reactions-undoubtedly an incorrect The only particle satisfying these is a proton. Thus the complete reaction is
allumption but one that is sufficiently accurate for usual engineering
calculations. 13AP' + IHe4- ,.Si'" + ,H' (1-6)

Now the isotope masses of the nuclei showing up in this reaction, obtained
1-6. NUCLEAR EQUATIONS
from the table in Appendix B, are as follows:
In nuclear reactions, the same reactant nuclei do not show up as Products
Reactants
products. In the products we may find either isotopes of the reactants Si30 29.97376 amu
AP' ..... _ .... 26.98153 amu
or completely different ones. In balancing nuclear equations it is neces- He4 , __ .4.00260 amu H' ..............., ., . 1.00783 amu
sary to see that the same, or equivalent, nuclear particles show up in the Total .. __ .. 30.98413 amu Total ......__ .30.98159 amu
products as entered the reaction.
For example, if K, L, M, and N were the symbols of elements of the From the above, we see that there is a decrease in mass, since Ll.m =
nuclei or particles participating in a nuclear reaction, the corresponding 30.98159 _ 30.98413 = - 0.00254 amu. This mass is converted to negative
nuclear equation might look like this: energy, i.e., energy is released or is exothermic.
Z KA, + z LA,--+ z MA, + Z NA, (1-4) An example of an endothermic nuclear reaction is
I 1 3

In order for Eq. 1-4 to balance, the following relationships must be ,NI4 + 2He4--+ 011 g + IHI (1-7)
satisfied:
The sum of the masses of these reactants and products (see Appendix B)
ZI + Z2 = Z3 + Z4 (I-Sa) are 14.00307 + 4.00260 = 18'()()S67 amu and 16.99914 + 1.00783 = 18.00697
amu respectively. Thus there is a net gain in mass of 0.00130 amu, which
and means that energy must have been absorbed or that the reaction is
AI+A2=A)+A4 (l-5b) endothermic.