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What is the difference between 'fissile material' and 'fissionable material'?
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What make Uranium fission?
Uranium (especialy the fissile isotope) 235U is fissionable by bombardments with thermal neutrons.
Atoms that naturally undergo nuclear fissions are called?
These are called fissile or fissionable. Fissile isotopes undergo fission, producing sufficient neutrons of sufficient power that a chain reaction can happen, if there is enough of the isotope to support it. The mass sufficient to support a chain reaction is called critical. Atoms of fissionable isotopes will undergo fission when a sufficiently energetic neutron collides with them, but the neutrons they emit when they divide are either insufficient in number or insufficient in energy to sustain an chain reaction. There is a third type of material that can undergo fission, called fertile, which is isotopes that can be caused to capture neutrons, changing into fissile or fissionable isotopes, so the fission does not happen to atoms of the fertile material directly, but to the atoms of the isotopes they become.
Nuclear fission can occur in?
A critical assembly of fissile material
What is the difference between clay and shale?
THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT CLAY IS MOIST, SOFT, AND SMOOTH. SHALE IS rock of fissile or laminated structure .
What the similarities and the differences between the reaction in uranium-235 and the reaction in Thorium?
Uranium-235 is a fissile isotope: can react with thermal neutrons (fission) to sustain a chain reaction.Thorium-232 is a fertile material: can absorb neutrons without fission and is transformed in the fissile isotope U-233.
Similarties between uranium-235 and plutonium-239 in nuclear reactors?
Uranium 235 and Plutonium 239 are fissile elements, fissionable with thermal neutrons.
What make Uranium fission?
Uranium (especialy the fissile isotope) 235U is fissionable by bombardments with thermal neutrons.
Atoms that naturally undergo nuclear fissions are called?
These are called fissile or fissionable. Fissile isotopes undergo fission, producing sufficient neutrons of sufficient power that a chain reaction can happen, if there is enough of the isotope to support it. The mass sufficient to support a chain reaction is called critical. Atoms of fissionable isotopes will undergo fission when a sufficiently energetic neutron collides with them, but the neutrons they emit when they divide are either insufficient in number or insufficient in energy to sustain an chain reaction. There is a third type of material that can undergo fission, called fertile, which is isotopes that can be caused to capture neutrons, changing into fissile or fissionable isotopes, so the fission does not happen to atoms of the fertile material directly, but to the atoms of the isotopes they become.
What is meant by supercritical andhow dose it relate to making a nuclear bomb?
subcritical - a mass or arrangement of fissionable or fissile material unable to sustain a neutron chain reaction. It can provide a fixed amount of neutron multiplication from a neutron source, but after removal of the neutron source the chain reaction rate drops exponentially.critical - a mass or arrangement of fissionable or fissile material capable of sustaining a constant neutron chain reaction. No increase or decrease. (Nuclear reactors operate at critical)supercritical - a mass or arrangement of fissionable or fissile material capable of not only sustaining a neutron chain reaction, but once initiated the chain reaction rate rises exponentially. (Nuclear fission bombs explode when made supercritical)A nuclear fission bomb must have 2 of these states: subcritical (so that it can't explode until desired) and supercritical (so that it explodes with an effective yield). This requires a rapid "assembly" system using conventional explosives to rearrange the fissile material from subcritical to supercritical in about 1ms. A neutron source starts the chain reaction and the explosion completes in about 1 microsecond.
What is nuclear breeding?
This means the breeding of fissile material from non-fissile. Thus for example Pu239 results from irradiating U238 which is not fissile. Thorium can also be used to breed fissile uranium.
What happen to Uranium-238 transformation story?
is the most common isotope of uranium found in nature. It is not fissile, but is afertile material: it can capture a slow neutron and after beta decay become fissile plutonium-239. U-238 is fissionable by fast neutrons, but cannot support a chain reaction because inelastic scattering reduces neutron energy below the range where fast fission is probable.
What is the amount of fissionable material that must be present in order for a nuclear reaction to take place called?
The critical mass. With an amount of U-235 or Pu-239, the smallest critical mass will be a sphere. For a nuclear reactor, it will be the minimum number of fuel assemblies loaded to produce a chain reaction.
Nuclear fission can occur in?
A critical assembly of fissile material
What was the nuclear material in the first bomb?
The first bomb that was used on people (Little Boy) used Highly Enriched Uranium as its fissile material. The first tested bomb at the Trinity Test used Plutonium as its fissile material.
Why cant thorium be used as energy to power up individual homes?
Thorium is not a fissile material. And for fissile materials - is impossible to have a nuclear reactor in each home.
Can all types of uranium be used in making electricity in a reactor?
Uranium-235 and uranium-233 (obtained from thorium-232) are fissile isotopes and used as nuclear fuels. Uranium-238 is fissionable with fast neutrons but the important use is as fertile material (to obtain plutonium-239). Other uranium isotopes are without use.
What is the difference between clay and shale?
THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT CLAY IS MOIST, SOFT, AND SMOOTH. SHALE IS rock of fissile or laminated structure .
