Practice question

**Nuclear fission** splitting heavy nucleus like U-235 into intermediate mass fragments Ba and Kr plus neutrons, releases ~200 MeV per fission because product BE/A higher, mass defect converted to energy, controlled in reactors, uncontrolled in bombs. Fusion combining light nuclei D+T→He+n releases ~17.6 MeV, requires high temperature to overcome Coulomb barrier to bring nuclei close for strong force to act. E = m c² . m = 2 × 10⁻³ kg , c² = 9 × 10¹⁶ m²/s² . E = 2 × 10⁻³ × 9 × 10¹⁶ = 1.8 × 10¹⁴ J . Using E_n = -13.6/n² eV, r_n = n² a₀, L =