Nuclear Chemistry Fission
Nuclear Fission Chain reaction that splits atoms and releases E as a result Reaction begins with a neutron Used in weapons & nuclear power plants 238 U + 1 n 239 U 92 Kr Ba n
Yeah! Nuclear Power! Produces 3,000,000 times the energy as coal by mass Fission of 1 mole U-235 releases 2.0 x kJ when 0.22 g is lost Coal and fossil fuels are nonrenewable energy sources
Yikes! Toxic Waste U-235 is present in rock but only 0.3% and expensive to mine Reaction can be “controlled” but not stopped once it is started Lots of toxic waste, for a long time (240,000 years) Reactor safety is an issue!
Anatomy of a Nuclear Power Plant
Nuclear reactors Fissionable uranium(IV) oxide (UO 2 ) is commonly used as fuel in nuclear reactors. Click box to view movie clip.
Power Plants in the world:
Fission Weapons:On August 6, 1945, a uranium-based weapon, "Little Boy", was let loose on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.August 61945Little Boy Hiroshima
Fat Man: Implosion-Type Bomb July 16, 1945, 1 st test “Trinity” The actual bomb, “Fat Man” dropped 3 days after “Little Boy”
Nuclear Chemistry Fusion
Two hydrogen nuclei “fuse” together to form a helium nuclei and release lots & lots of E Fuel of the stars! 2 H + 2 H 4 He
What’s good about fusion: Fuel is inexpensive & abundant % of hydrogen in ocean would fuel the entire world for one year! No toxic waste Reaction can be stopped anytime Never-ending energy! Fission = 1 kg Uranium = 3,000,000 kg coal BUT 1 kg Hydrogen fusion = 40,000,000 kg of coal
Too good to be true? Needs to be very hot! Thermonuclear weapons, or Hydrogen bombs use several explosives: dynamite → fission to get heat → fusion! Power plants in research phase…TOKAMAK reactor Fe Man 2, scene 13 2,000,000 °Celsius to start reaction