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What can happen when a fission chain reaction gets out of control?
A chain reaction has products or byproducts that cause the reaction to continue. One example is a state of nuclear critical mass, in which an atom of u-235 decays to produce fast neutrons (along with other fission fragments), which crash into other u-235 atoms, which release more neutrons. The number of neutrons in the environment increases, and if this is not controlled, then there is a nuclear explosion. That is how an atomic bomb works. Another example is a state of instability in snow on a mountain side. If snow begins to move at the top of the mountain, it pushes the snow below it to give way, this pushes the snow below it to give way in turn, going down the mountainside until the snow runs out or the mountain levels out. This is an avalanche. Another example is a situation where the electric grid is overloaded to the point of instability. A failure in a transformer can cause a power surge that causes another failure, this causes other power surges in other places, resulting in other failures. This produces widespread power outage. Chain reactions continue until some sort of equilibrium is attained, or until the unstable features of the situation have lost their energy. In human terms, the results are often destructive or at least dangerous.
What happens to an ice cube when heated?
When an ice cube is heated, it absorbs heat energy and begins to melt, turning into liquid water. Continued heating will cause the water to further increase in temperature until it eventually turns into steam as it boils.
What happens when ice is added to warm soda?
When ice is added to warm soda, the ice begins to melt and cools down the soda. This melting process absorbs heat energy from the soda, causing it to become colder. As a result, the soda temperature decreases and the ice eventually melts completely.
What makes a chemical radioactive?
An element is radioactive if its atomic nuclei are unstable. The nucleus contains protons and neutrons; the electromagnetic force pushes the protons apart because they have the same charge, but the strong nuclear force pulls the protons and neutrons together. A nucleus is only stable if it has the right balance of protons and neutrons, and doesn't have any extra energy (if it does, it is said to be in an excited state).An unstable nucleus will sooner or later change its state by undergoing radioactive decay. There are many kinds of radioactive decay, but four are particularly well known:* The nucleus may eject a cluster of two protons and two neutrons, which is called an alpha particle.* A neutron may convert into a proton by emitting an electron (in this context called a beta particle) and an antineutrino.* An excited nucleus may release energy in the form of a photon, called a gamma ray.* The nucleus may break up into two or more smaller nuclei, typically releasing one or more neutrons in the process; this is called spontaneous fission.
An unstable nucleus results from too many or too few?
Neutrons. For lighter elements with two few neutrons, a likely decay route will be through electron capture and beta particle emission. Those with more neutrons decay by beta particle emission, which can be described as a neutron splitting into a proton/electron pair, where the surplus energy is imparted to the electron, ejecting it from the nucleus. Heavier elements may decay by either of these or by alpha particle emission, which is essentially the ejection of a helium nucleus (two protons and two electrons). The heaviest elements may also undergo spontaneous fission, where the nucleus begins to vibrate and split. This typically also releases free neutrons, which can bombard neighboring heavy atomic nuclei, causing them to become unstable and to fission, resulting in what is known as a chain reaction. See the attached link for a table of the isotope decay modes. In the table key are some neat animations.
What is the role of control rods in a fission reaction?
Control rods are used to absorb neutrons in a nuclear reactor to regulate the rate of fission reactions. By adjusting the position of the control rods, operators can control the power level and ensure safe and stable operation of the reactor. If the reactor begins to overheat, control rods can be inserted further to slow down or stop the chain reaction.
What is the part of a nuclear power plant that undergoes a fission reaction?
The uranium 235 atoms in the nuclear fuel are what actually fission, or split into two other atoms. The uranium is in ceramic fuel pellets that are inserted into fuel rods, that make up fuel elements, that are in the reactor core that is located in the reactor vessel of the nuclear power plant. After the fuel has been in the reactor it begins to produce plutonium 239 atoms within the fuel which will also undergo a fission reaction.
What particle both begins and produced by a nuclear chain reaction?
Neutrons are the particles that initiate a nuclear chain reaction by bombarding the nucleus of an atom, causing it to split and release more neutrons that can go on to bombard other nuclei and continue the reaction.
What device in a nuclear power plant creats nuclear energy?
The origin of the energy is the reactor core. Control rods are pulled out of the core to start the reactor, and a controlled chain reaction begins and is maintained. Neutrons released in fissions create other fissions to keep the chain alive. The fissions release energy, much of which is heat energy. The heat is transferred out of the core into the reactor coolant. The coolant transfers the heat into steam generators, and the heat creates steam which is then piped to steam turbines. The turbines drive generators to create electricity, which is then put on the power grid.A link is provided to an article on the nuclear reactor core posted by our friends at Wikipedia, where knowledge is free.BIG PANTS
When do fuel rods start to heat up?
Fuel rods in a nuclear reactor start to heat up as soon as the nuclear fission process begins. This process generates heat through the splitting of atoms within the fuel rods, leading to an increase in temperature.
In nuclear reactors do neutrons travel faster than the speed of light and if so what about the theory of relativity according to which nothing can travel faster than the speed of light?
No, the neutrons produced in nuclear reactors don't travel anywhere near the speed of light. Let's look at this a bit. In the "standard" fission reactor, fissile nuclear fuel is "started up" and the neutron chain reaction begins. Neutrons are produced during atomic fission events, and these neutrons are sometimes called "fission energy" or "prompt" or "fast" neutrons. They are the free neutrons that appear as the result of the fission event. And they're moving pretty darn quick when they're "blown out" of the fissioning nucleus. But they're not moving anywhere near the speed of light. The Boltzman distribution (a fancy way of speaking about the range of energies at which the fast neutrons appear), has a strong peak at close to 2 MeV (20 TJ/kg). That translates into a speed of 28,000 km/s. The speed of light is some 299,792 km/s as we've defined it, and that puts the speed of those fast neutrons at roughly 10% the speed of light.
What pigment absorbs light energy when photosynseis begins?
chloroplasts
What pigment absorbs light energy when photosynthesis's begins?
chlorophyll
What pigment absorbs light energy when protosynthesis begins?
Chlorophyll.
What do fuel rods do in nuclear reactors?
Uranium
What phase of mitosis begins when the nuclear membrane begins to fade?
The phase of mitosis that begins when the nuclear membrane starts to fade is called prometaphase. During prometaphase, the nuclear membrane breaks down, allowing the spindle fibers to attach to the chromosomes.
What is a type of transportation that begins with N?
Nuclear submarine is a type of transportation. It begins with N.
