Question

Mr. Holmes sure likes to play with Legos now that he is staying home these days. He was thinking that nuclear reactions were just like playing with lego pieces. Here are his three ideas why legos are like nuclear reactions.

1. If he builds a project that is too big, it will fall apart on its own because the connections are not strong enough to hold the pieces together.


2. Putting smaller lego pieces together to create bigger objects provides Mr. Holmes lots and lots of energy. He could keep doing this for a very long time.


3. While it causes a mess, Mr. Holmes gains energy by taking large objects and smashing them into smaller objects. While this is fun, it only lasts a limited time, because the large objects to smash are pretty scarce.


Which of the following reactions nuclear reactions is Mr. Holmes thinking of in this scenario?

Question 21 options:

1 – Fission 2 – Fusion 3-Radioactive Decay


1 – Radioactive Decay 2 – Fission 3 – Fusion


1 – Fusion 2 – Radioactive Decay 3- Fission


1 – Radioactive Decay 2- Fusion 3 – Fission

Answer 1

1 – Fission 2 – Fusion 3-Radioactive Decay

Step-by-step explanation:

The first scenario described in (1) is a fission reaction. Recall that in a nuclear fission, large nuclei disintegrate spontaneously. This is because the nuclei has a large number of nucleons hence a greater repulsion between them. This causes the large nuclides to be unstable and disintegrate spontaneously, releasing neutrons in the process.

The second scenario is typical of nuclear fusion, two light nuclei combine together to form a lager nucleus with a tremendous release of energy. This is typified in the fusion of hydrogen isotopes to form helium.

The third scenario depicts radioactive decay, radioactive decay often involves the spontaneous disintegration of a radioactive nucleus to form daughter nuclei with the emission of beta, gamma or alpha rays.