Question

A fictitious element has a total of 1500 protons + neutrons. (Mass number) The element undergoes nuclear

fusion and creates two new elements and releases excess neutrons.
The first new element has a mass number of 1000
The second new element has a mass number of 475
How many protons were released?

Answer 1

950 neutrons were released during the fusion reaction.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the number of protons released during nuclear fusion, we need to find the difference in the number of protons before and after the fusion reaction.

Let's denote the number of protons in the original element as P, and the number of neutrons as N. We are given that the total number of protons and neutrons (mass number) in the original element is 1500, so we can write the equation:

P + N = 1500 (Equation 1)

After the fusion reaction, two new elements are created. Let's denote the number of protons in the first new element as P1 and the number of neutrons as N1, and the number of protons in the second new element as P2 and the number of neutrons as N2.

We are given that the first new element has a mass number of 1000, so we can write the equation:

P1 + N1 = 1000 (Equation 2)

Similarly, the second new element has a mass number of 475, so we can write the equation:

P2 + N2 = 475 (Equation 3)

During the fusion reaction, excess neutrons are released. The total number of neutrons in the original element is N. After the fusion reaction, the number of neutrons in the first new element is N1, and the number of neutrons in the second new element is N2. Therefore, the number of neutrons released can be expressed as:

N - (N1 + N2) = Excess neutrons (Equation 4)

Now, we need to solve these equations to find the values of P, P1, P2, N1, N2, and the excess neutrons.

From Equation 1, we can express N in terms of P:

N = 1500 - P

Substituting this into Equations 2 and 3, we get:

P1 + (1500 - P1) = 1000

P2 + (1500 - P2) = 475

Simplifying these equations, we find:

P1 = 500

P2 = 425

Now, we can substitute the values of P1 and P2 into Equations 2 and 3 to find N1 and N2:

N1 = 1000 - P1 = 1000 - 500 = 500

N2 = 475 - P2 = 475 - 425 = 50

Finally, we can substitute the values of P1, P2, N1, and N2 into Equation 4 to find the excess neutrons:

N - (N1 + N2) = Excess neutrons

1500 - (500 + 50) = Excess neutrons

1500 - 550 = Excess neutrons

950 = Excess neutrons