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Reinforcement

Fission and Fusion

Chapter 21
BLM 21-1

Goal

Show your understanding of concepts related to fission and fusion.

Procedure

Answer the following questions on a separate page. Show your calculations where
applicable.
1. Compare and contrast fission reactions and fusion reactions. Include nuclear

equations to show an example of each type of reaction.

2. In a certain nuclear reaction, a slow neutron collides with a uranium-235 atom.

The collision results in one rubidium-90 atom, one cesium-144 atom, two
neutrons, and thermal energy.
(a) Write an equation to represent this nuclear reaction.
(b) What type of nuclear reaction is this? Explain how you know.
(c) Compare the mass of the uranium-235 nucleus to the combined mass of the

rubidium-90 atom and the cesium-144 atom. Explain your answer in detail.
3. Consider the following equation:
235
92

U 01 n

140
54

Xe

2 01 n

(a) What type of nuclear reaction is shown in the equation?

(b) Complete the equation.
4. (a) For nuclides with atomic mass numbers larger than 60, what happens to the

binding energy per nucleon as the atomic mass number increases? How does
this trend relate to the energy produced by fission?
(b) Why do only very large nuclei undergo fission?
5. Explain why fission products tend to be very radioactive.
6. In a fission reaction, the loss of mass was 4.32 105 g. How much energy was

released? Show your calculations.

7. What conditions are necessary for fusion reactions to take place? Why are these

conditions necessary?

Copyright 2003 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited.