Nuclear Fission. The unstable nucleus of uranium-236 can be regarded as a uniformly charg...

Nuclear Fission. The unstable nucleus of uranium-236 can be regarded as a uniformly charged sphere of charge Q = +92e and radius R = 7.4 × 10−15 m. In nuclear fission, this can divide into two smaller nuclei, each with half the charge and half the volume of the original uranium-236 nucleus. This is one of the reactions that occurred in the nuclear weapon that exploded over Hiroshima, Japan, in August 1945. (a) Find the radii of the two “daughter” nuclei of charge +46e. (b) In a simple model for the fission process, immediately after the uranium-236 nucleus has undergone fission, the “daughter” nuclei are at rest and just touching, as shown in Fig. Calculate the kinetic energy that each of the “daughter” nuclei will have when they are very far apart. (c) In this model the sum of the kinetic energies of the two “daughter” nuclei, calculated in part (b), is the energy released by the fission of one uranium- 236 nucleus. Calculate the energy released by the fission of 10.0 kg of uranium-236. The atomic mass of uranium-236 is 236 u, where 1 u = 1 atomic mass unit = 1.66 × 10−24 kg. Express your answer both in joules and in kilotons of TNT (1 kiloton of TNT releases 4.18 × 1012 J when it explodes). (d) In terms of this model, discuss why an atomic bomb could just as well be called an “electric bomb”.

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