GEO 104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Uranium-235, Nuclear Fission, Gas Explosion

• School: Stony Brook University
• Department: Geosciences
• Course: GEO 104
• Professor: Joel Hurowitz

Document Summary

There were sea walls in front of the plant. 2, and 3 ended up exploding after the meltdown. 1 year after the tsunami, there was a complete loss of the power plant. In the nucleus: protons and neutrons, number of neutrons can very. There"s a limited amount of neutrons can be in a nucleus until atom starts to breakdown and become radioactive. Outside the nucleus: electrons, not part of nuclear reactions. Orbits around the atom and is responsible for chemical bonds. Element: any atom with a given number of protons. Isotope: same element but different number of neutrons. Carbon - 12 has two isotopes, c-13 (stable) , c-14 (unstable/radioactive) Add a neutron to an element ( uranium- 235) making it unstable. U-235 releases 2- 3 neutrons when it breaks apart, which can lead to even more breakings of atoms. U-235 atom is ssioned as a result of a neutron coming in and making it unstable.