Nuclear Fission — lesson. Science State Board, Class 10.

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$1939$ , German scientists Otto Hahn and F. Strassman discovered the process of nuclear fission. When a uranium nucleus is bombarded with a neutron, it splits up into two smaller nuclei of equivalent mass, emitting a few neutrons and some amount of energy.

Nuclear fission

Nuclear fission is the process of splitting or breaking up a heavy nucleus into two smaller nuclei with the release of a huge quantity of energy and a few neutrons.

Example:

Nuclear fission of a uranium nucleus (

$U^{235}$ )

Splitting of a uranium nucleus

$_{92}U^{235}$

$+$

$_{0}n^{1}$

$\rightarrow$

$_{56}Ba^{141}$

$+$

$_{36}Kr^{92}$

$+$

$3$

$_{0}n^{1}$

$+$

$Q$ (

$energy$ )

The average energy released in each process of nuclear fission is about

$3.2 \times{10^{-11}}$

$J$ .

Features of fission reaction:
Some of the salient features of a fission reaction are

A fission reaction occurs if the nucleus of a ( $U\ -235$ ) is bombarded with a slow-moving neutron.
Fast-moving neutrons cannot produce a fission reaction.
The products of a fission reaction are a lighter nucleus of atomic mass ranging from $85$ to $104$ , a heavy nucleus of atomic mass ranging from $130$ and $149$ with two or three neutrons.
Fission reaction is accompanied by the release of an enormous amount of energy in the form of light and heat.
Sometimes, fission reaction produces $γ$ -radiations of a very shorter wavelength.

Reference:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Liquid_drop_model_of_nuclear_fission.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CNX_Chem_21_04_Fission1.png

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11. Nuclear Fission

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