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9. A diagram from a 'How Things Work' website contains information about a nuclear fusion reaction - Scottish Highers Physics - Question 9 - 2017
Question 9
9. A diagram from a 'How Things Work' website contains information about a nuclear fusion reaction. Reaction of helium-3 with deuterium. (a) State what is meant by... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:9. A diagram from a 'How Things Work' website contains information about a nuclear fusion reaction - Scottish Highers Physics - Question 9 - 2017
Step 1
Step 2
Explain why energy is released in this reaction.
Answer
Energy is released in this nuclear fusion reaction due to the loss of mass when two lighter nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus. According to Einstein's mass-energy equivalence principle, represented as ( E=mc^2 ), the mass lost is converted into energy.
Step 3
Determine the energy released in this reaction.
Answer
To determine the energy released, we need to calculate the mass before and after the reaction.
Mass before the reaction:
- Mass of ( ^{3}He ): 5.008 × 10^{-27} kg
- Mass of ( ^{2}H ): 3.344 × 10^{-27} kg
Total mass before:
[ 5.008 × 10^{-27} + 3.344 × 10^{-27} = 8.352 × 10^{-27} , kg ]
Mass after the reaction:
- Mass of ( ^{4}He ): 6.646 × 10^{-27} kg
- Mass of ( ^{1}p ): 1.673 × 10^{-27} kg
Total mass after:
[ 6.646 × 10^{-27} + 1.673 × 10^{-27} = 8.319 × 10^{-27} , kg ]
Mass lost:
[ 8.352 × 10^{-27} - 8.319 × 10^{-27} = 0.033 × 10^{-27} , kg ]
Using ( E=mc^2 ), we can determine the energy released: [ E = 0.033 × 10^{-27} imes (3.00 × 10^{8})^2 ] [ E = 0.033 × 10^{-27} imes 9.00 × 10^{16} = 2.97 × 10^{-11} , J ]
Thus, the energy released in the reaction is approximately ( 2.97 × 10^{-11} ) joules.