![]() While uranium-235 is the isotope that undergoes fission it is worth noting that uranium-238 atoms can absorb neutrons to become plutonium-239 which is another atom that can undergo fission. We will consider where the energy comes from in the next section. It is 50 million times more energy than burning the equivalent amount of carbon. The energy released per fission is relatively large.Fission products may be of a wide variety of elements. The neutrons may need to be slowed down and are then referred to as thermal neutrons. Both the number and speed of the neutrons is crucial within a working reactor. The smaller atoms produced by nuclear fission are called fission products. For fission to occur the neutrons must be going at the right speed – too fast and they will bounce off rather than be absorbed.Once started, fission can become self-sustaining – this is called a chain reaction. The fact that neutrons are also produced means that these neutrons can go on to induce further fissions.These by-products of nuclear power form the majority of the radioactive waste that we will consider next week. Fission products created by neutron irradiation of natural uranium in a nuclear reactor show in the initial stage approximately the same nuclide distribution as. Because of the complex composition of fission products in burnt-up. Fission of plutonium-239 or uranium-235 produces over 100 radioisotopes with half-lives varying from fractions of a second to millions of years. ![]() Fission products tend to be radioactive. Nuclear devices are basically of two types, fission (the atomic bomb) and fusion (the thermonuclear or hydrogen bomb).In words this would be: ‘A uranium-235 atom absorbs a neutron to become uranium-236 which then undergoes fission to form the products xenon-140 and strontium-93 with three neutrons.’ An equation representing this particular fission would be: The fission products themselves can vary but examples would be xenon-140 and strontium-93. Neutrons are shown as using the same notation as for isotopes. ![]() This image shoes the particles and types of radiation involved in fission Figure 14 The particles and types of radiation involved in fission The resulting atomic weights of the split atoms correspond to various elements on the periodic table and are called fission products. ![]()
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