Question

(a) Draw the plot of blinding energy per nucleon (BE/A)
as a function of mass number. Write two important conclusion that can be drawn regarding the nature of nuclear source.
(b) Use this graph to explain the release of energy in both the process of nuclear fusion and fission.
(c) Write the basic nuclear process of neutron undergoing $\beta$-decay. why is the detection of neutrinos found very difficult?

Answer 1

(a)Conclusions drawn from the graph:

(i) The nuclear force is very attractive and strong to produce binding energy of the order of MeV per nucleon.

(ii)The nuclear force is a short range force which can be shown by its value being constant in the range 30<A<170.

(b)In nuclear fission a heavier nucleus breaks into lighter nuclei to release high binding energy per nucleon. In nuclear fusion, the binding energy of the fused heavier nucleon is more than the binding energy of the lighter nuclei which combined to form the heavier nuclei. Energy is also released in nuclear fusion.

(c)the basic nuclear process of neutron undergoing $\beta$ decay is:

$n\to p+\overrightarrow{e}+\overrightarrow{\nu }$

Neutrinos have high penetrating power which makes their detection difficult.