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#heavy nucleus

2 public questions tagged with this topic.

Nuclear Reactions - Fission, Fusion and Energy Release

Which process involves the splitting of a heavy nucleus into two intermediate mass fragments?

**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. Nuclear fission is the process where a heavy nucleus splits into two intermediate mass fragments, releasing energy due to the higher binding energy per nucleon in the resulting nuclei. Usi

Ref: NCERT > Physics Book > Atoms and Nuclei > Nuclear Reactions - Fission, Fusion and Energy Release

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Mass Defect, Binding Energy and Binding Energy per Nucleon

What happens to the binding energy per nucleon when a heavy nucleus undergoes fission?

**Binding energy calculation** from mass defect, for nucleus mass number 28 BE 224 MeV BE/A=8 MeV, A=18 BE 144 MeV BE/A=8 MeV, BE/A indicates stability, fusion of light nuclei and fission of heavy release energy because product has higher BE/A, difference released. For heavy nuclei (A > 170), the binding energy per nucleon is lower (~7.6 MeV). Fission into intermediate mass fragments (A ≈ 120) increases it to ~8.5 MeV, releasing energy. Using E_n = -13.6/n² eV, r_n = n² a₀, L = n h/2π, R = R₀ A^¹/³, BE = Δm c² and 1 u = 931.5 MeV, evaluation yields Increases, consistent with Bohr

Ref: NCERT > Physics Book > Atoms and Nuclei > Mass Defect, Binding Energy and Binding Energy per Nucleon

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