CH 106 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Spent Nuclear Fuel, Nuclear Power
3 Nov 2016
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E=mc2: energy=mass x speed of light squared, this is a massive number! Strange that you cannot transform mass into energy and vice versa. Two or more forms of the same element whose atoms differ in number of neutrons and therefore mass. C-12 (6 neutrons, 6p+6n) c-13 (7 neutrons) c-14 (8 neutrons) Most carbon is c-12, makes up most organic configurations c-13 is radioactive. Uranium: (mined) u-235, 1%, this is the one we want, u-238-99%, enrichment by increasing mining to 3%, which is enough for power plant. To make uranium bomb you need u-235 at 90% Chemical reactions are much less energetic than nuclear reactions. Chemical reactions depend on conditions (temperature, concentration, pressure) and change the experiment, while nuclear is dependent of isotope, not environmental conditions. In chemical, only electrons are involved in breaking/making bonds while in nuclear both protons and neutrons are involved.
