The most abundant isotope of uranium, 238U, does not undergo fission. In a breeder reactor, however, a 238U atom captures a neutron and emits two b particles to make a fis-sionable isotope of plutonium, which can then be used as fuel in a nuclear reactor. Write a balanced nuclear equation.
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Identify the initial reactants and products involved. In this case, the reactants are uranium-238 (^{238}U) and a neutron (n), and the products include plutonium and beta particles (\beta^-).
Write the initial unbalanced nuclear reaction. Start with the reactants on the left side and the products on the right side: ^{238}U + n \rightarrow ^{239}Pu + 2\beta^-.
Check the atomic numbers and mass numbers on both sides of the equation to ensure they are balanced. Uranium has an atomic number of 92 and a mass number of 238. A neutron has no charge and a mass number of 1. Plutonium has an atomic number of 94, and each beta particle has no mass number and a charge of -1.
Balance the atomic numbers and mass numbers. The atomic number on the left is 92 (from uranium) and on the right, it should also total 92 (94 from plutonium minus 2 from the two beta particles). The mass number on the left is 239 (238 from uranium plus 1 from the neutron), which should match the mass number of plutonium on the right.
Confirm that the equation is balanced: ^{238}U + n \rightarrow ^{239}Pu + 2\beta^-.
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Key Concepts
Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.
Nuclear Fission
Nuclear fission is a process in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller nuclei, along with the release of energy and neutrons. This reaction can occur spontaneously or can be induced by the absorption of a neutron. In the context of nuclear reactors, fission is primarily used to generate energy, with isotopes like uranium-235 and plutonium-239 being common fuels.
Isotopes are variants of a chemical element that have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons. In the case of uranium-238, it is a stable isotope that does not undergo fission readily. However, when it captures a neutron, it can transform into a different isotope, which may be fissile, such as plutonium-239, through a series of nuclear reactions.
A balanced nuclear equation represents a nuclear reaction, ensuring that the total number of nucleons (protons and neutrons) and the charge are conserved. In these equations, the reactants and products are written with their respective atomic numbers and mass numbers. Balancing these equations is crucial for accurately depicting the transformation of elements during nuclear reactions, such as the conversion of uranium-238 to plutonium-239.
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