One of the dangers of radioactive fallout from a nuclear bomb is its 90Sr, which decays with a 29-year half-life. Because it has chemical properties much like those of calcium, the strontium, if ingested by a cow, becomes concentrated in the cow’s milk. Some of the 90Sr ends up in the bones of whoever drinks the milk. The energetic electrons emitted in the beta decay of 90Sr damage the bone marrow and thus impair the production of red blood cells. A 1 megaton bomb produces approximately 400 g of 90Sr. If the fallout spreads uniformly over a 2000 km2 area, what ground area would hold an amount of radioactivity equal to the “allowed” limit for one person, which is 74 000 counts/s?
Nuclear Fusion
Nuclear fusion is a type of nuclear reaction. In nuclear fusion, two or more than two lighter atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus. During this process, an enormous amount of energy is released. This energy is called nuclear energy. Nuclear fusion is the energy source of the sun and stars.
Fusion Bomb
A fusion bomb is also known as a thermonuclear bomb or hydrogen bomb which releases a large amount of explosive energy during a nuclear chain reaction when the lighter nuclei in it, combine to form heavier nuclei, and a large amount of radiation is released. It is an uncontrolled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction where isotopes of hydrogen combine under very high temperature to form helium. They work on the principle of operation of atomic fusion. The isotopes of Hydrogen are deuterium and tritium, where they combine their masses and have greater mass than the product nuclei, get heated at high temperatures, and releases energy.
One of the dangers of radioactive fallout from a nuclear
bomb is its 90Sr, which decays with a 29-year half-life. Because
it has chemical properties much like those of calcium, the strontium,
if ingested by a cow, becomes concentrated in the cow’s milk.
Some of the 90Sr ends up in the bones of whoever drinks the milk.
The energetic electrons emitted in the beta decay of 90Sr damage
the bone marrow and thus impair the production of red blood cells.
A 1 megaton bomb produces approximately 400 g of 90Sr. If the
fallout spreads uniformly over a 2000 km2 area, what ground area would hold an amount of radioactivity equal to the “allowed” limit
for one person, which is 74 000 counts/s?
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