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A positive void coefficient means that the reactivity increases as the void content inside the reactor increases due to increased boiling or loss of coolant; for example, if the coolant acts predominantly as neutron absorber. This positive void coefficient causes a positive feedback loop, starting with the first occurrence of steam bubbles ...
The reaction energy (the "Q-value") is positive for exothermal reactions and negative for endothermal reactions, opposite to the similar expression in chemistry. On the one hand, it is the difference between the sums of kinetic energies on the final side and on the initial side.
A reaction with a negative Q value is endothermic, i.e. requires a net energy input, since the kinetic energy of the final state is less than the kinetic energy of the initial state. [1] Observe that a chemical reaction is exothermic when it has a negative enthalpy of reaction, in contrast a positive Q value in a nuclear reaction.
The binding energies of all existing nuclides form what is called the nuclear band or valley of stability. [1] For either electron or positron emission to be energetically possible, the energy release or Q value must be positive. Beta decay is a consequence of the weak force, which is characterized by relatively long decay times.
Some multistep reactions can also have apparent negative activation energies. For example, the overall rate constant k for a two-step reaction A ⇌ B, B → C is given by k = k 2 K 1 , where k 2 is the rate constant of the rate-limiting slow second step and K 1 is the equilibrium constant of the rapid first step.
An alpha particle with a speed of 1.5×10 7 m/s within a nuclear diameter of approximately 10 −14 m will collide with the barrier more than 10 21 times per second. However, if the probability of escape at each collision is very small, the half-life of the radioisotope will be very long, since it is the time required for the total probability ...
The explosion of the Ivy Mike hydrogen bomb. The hydrogen bomb was the first device able to achieve fusion energy gain factor significantly larger than 1.. A fusion energy gain factor, usually expressed with the symbol Q, is the ratio of fusion power produced in a nuclear fusion reactor to the power required to maintain the plasma in steady state.
A positive value of U is due to a repulsive force, so interacting particles are at higher energy levels as they get closer. A negative potential energy indicates a bound state (due to an attractive force). The Coulomb barrier increases with the atomic numbers (i.e. the number of protons) of the colliding nuclei: