Chapter 18, Problem 52QAP

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation:

The mass of PETN required producing the energy same as produced from 1 microgram of U-235 needs to be determined.

Concept introduction:

The mass defect for any nuclear reaction is the change in masses of the species involved in the process.

For a general nuclear reaction as follows:

$A\to B+C$

The mass defect can be calculated as follows:

$m_B+m_C-m_A$

Here, m is atomic mass of A, B and C atoms.

The binding energy can be calculated as follows:

$B.E=\Delta m{c}^2$

Here, $\Delta m$ is mass defect and c is speed of light.