Homework 8.1.

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1. Critical mass refers to the amount of fissile material that
A. will allow fission to be sustained.
B. is equivalent to 235 g of uranium.
C. will produce a growing chain reaction.
D. is the minimum mass necessary for fission to take place.
2. This question is about the production of nuclear energy and its transfer to electrical
energy.
(a) When a neutron “collides” with a nucleus of uranium-235 ( 235 U) the
92

following reaction can occur.

235 U + 1n  144 Ba + 90 Kr + 2 1n
92 0 56 36 0

(i) State the name given to this type of nuclear reaction.

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(ii) Energy is liberated in this reaction. In what form does this energy
appear?

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(b) Describe how the neutrons produced in this reaction may initiate a chain
reaction.

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(c) Explain why, for fission reactions to be maintained, the mass of the
uranium fuel must be above a certain minimum amount.

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3. Nuclear power production

(a)With reference to the concept of fuel enrichment in a nuclear reactor explain,
(i)the advantage of enriching the uranium used in a nuclear reactor.

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(ii)from an international point of view, a possible risk to which fuel enrichment could
lead.

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(b)A particular nuclear reactor uses uranium-235 as its fuel source. When a nucleus of
uranium-235 absorbs a neutron, the following reaction can take place.
235
92 U  01 n  144
54 Xe 
90
38 Sr  2 01 n

The following data are available.

rest mass of 235 = 2.1895  105 MeV c–2
92 U

rest mass of 144 = 1.3408  105 MeV c–2

54 Xe

rest mass of 90 = 8.3749  104 MeV c–2

38 Sr

rest mass of 1 = 939.56 MeV c–2

0 n

(i)Show that the energy released in the reaction is approximately 180 MeV.

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(ii)State the form in which the energy appears.

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(c)The energy released by one atom of carbon-12 during combustion is approximately

4 eV.
(i) Using the answer to (b)(i), estimate the ratio

Specific energy of uranium-235/specific energy of carbon-12

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(ii)Suggest, with reference to your answer in (c)(i), one advantage of uranium-235
compared with fossil fuels.

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