What is the decay constant of plutonium-239?
Plutonium-239 has a decay constant of 2.88 x 10^-5 year-1.
What is K in decay constant?
The constant k is called the decay constant, which controls how quickly the total number of nuclei decreases. The value of the decay constant is specific to the type of decay (alpha, beta, gamma) and isotope being studied, and so unknown isotopes can be identified based on how quickly they decay.
What is the decay constant for plutonium?
2.88×10
Plutonium-239 has a decay constant of 2.88×10−5 year −1 .
What is the product of the decay of Pu-239?
Plutonium-239
| General | |
|---|---|
| Half-life | 24,110 years |
| Parent isotopes | 243Cm (α) 239Am (EC) 239Np (β−) |
| Decay products | 235U |
| Isotope mass | 239.0521634 u |
How does plutonium-239 decay?
Plutonium-239 decays through spontaneous fission while emitting alpha particles.
What is K in exponential growth?
k is a constant that represents the growth rate. It is POSITIVE when talking in terms of exponential GROWTH. t is the amount of time that has past. If the information for time is given in dates, you need to convert it to how much time has past since the initial time.
How do you find K in exponential decay?
Now some algebra to solve for k:
- Divide both sides by 3:6 = e2k
- Take the natural logarithm of both sides:ln(6) = ln(e2k)
- ln(ex)=x, so:ln(6) = 2k.
- Swap sides:2k = ln(6)
- Divide by 2:k = ln(6)/2.
How is plutonium-239 used?
Plutonium-239 is one of the two fissile materials used for the production of nuclear weapons and in some nuclear reactors as a source of energy. It is made by bombarding uranium-238 with neutrons in a nuclear reactor.
What is plutonium 239 used for?
Plutonium-239 is used to make nuclear weapons. Pu-239 and Pu-240 are byproducts of nuclear reactor operations and nuclear bomb explosions.
What is the decay constant of plutonium 239?
Plutonium-239 can also absorb neutrons and fission along with the uranium-235 in a reactor. What is the decay constant of plutonium 239? Plutonium-239 has a decay constant of 2.88 x 10^-5 year-1.
Is it possible to make a nuclear weapon with 239 Pu?
Lower proportions of 239 Pu would make a reliable weapon design difficult or impossible; this is due to the spontaneous fission (and thus neutron production) of the undesirable 240 Pu. ^ “Physical, Nuclear]
Why does plutonium 239 have a high fission rate?
In practice, however, reactor-bred plutonium will invariably contain a certain amount of 240Pu due to the tendency of 239 Pu to absorb an additional neutron during production. 240 Pu has a high rate of spontaneous fission events (415,000 fission/s-kg), making it an undesirable contaminant.
Which is more dangerous plutonium 239 or uranium 235?
Plutonium-239 emits alpha particles to become uranium-235. As an alpha emitter, plutonium-239 is not particularly dangerous as an external radiation source, but if it is ingested or breathed in as dust it is very dangerous and carcinogenic.