(This may sound dumb and i think im just missing a basic piece of energy production) I know how nuclear fission works, neutrons are fired as a nucleus which produces a unstable nucleus that then splits into 2 product nuclei and a select number of neutrons and releases an amount of energy (ie. U 235 -> u 236 -> Ba141 + kr92 + 3 neutrons + Q) but why is Q (energy) produced.
Mass is maintained so I don’t see why it needs to release energy especially one so disproportionate to its mass. Is it the break of the strong nuclear force that causes such a large energy output ?
In: 1
Mass is in fact not maintained:
U236 has a mass of about 236.045568 u, Ba141 has 140.991411 u, Kr91 has 91.926156 u and a neutron has 1.008665 u.
If you subtract the masses of the barium, the krypton and the three neutrons from the mass of the uranium you got a leftover mass of 0.179006 u. Thats Q.
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