Date: ___________________________ Name: ______________________________

Chemistry Period: _____

Nuclear Reactions Webquest

Instructions. Go to the website: pettinatochem.weebly.com and click on the Nuclear Energy
Webquest link. Explore the webpage and its external links to answer the questions on this
worksheet.

Nuclear Reactions
Its A Question Of Physics: Whats The Difference Between
Fission And Fusion?
(external link: http://atomic.lindahall.org/what-is-fission-
and-fusion.html)

1. What is a nuclear reaction?

2. During these reactions mass is lost. According to Einsteins equation E=mc 2, what is this
mass converted to?

3. What are the two types of nuclear reactions used to produce energy?

4. In a single atom of uranium-235, how many protons, neutrons, and electrons compose the
atom?

5. When a uranium atom absorbs a neutron, it undergoes fission. What is released from the
fission reaction?

6. In the special case at which has been achieved, some of

the neutrons that are released during fission can be used to bring about more splitting,
producing a very fast chain reaction.

7. Describe what happens in a fusion reaction.

8. What is the source of energy in a fusion reaction?

9. How do stars like our sun generate their energy? What elements are involved in and
produced in this process?
Birth of a Supernova: Type II
(external link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/birth-supernova-type-II.html)

10. We know that our Earth is about 4.6 billion years old. How long
does it take for stars the size of our sun to exhaust their fuel?

11. A stars gravity is so powerful that it wants to collapse in on itself. What counteracts the
force of gravity in a star keeping the stars matter from falling in on itself?

12. What elements are fused together to form silicon and sulfur?

13. When a star has reached the point at which it begins to fuse elements into iron, the fusion
process stops, why?

Particle Accelerators
Watch the video clip to answer the following questions.
(external link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ2q8WUire0)

14. What element is used to fuel the LHC?

15. When electrons are stripped off the hydrogen atoms in the first stage, what is the remaining
part of the atom?

16. In the second stage, what is used to

accelerate the beam of protons around the
circle?

17. As energy is added to the protons they reach a point at 99.9% the speed of light and cannot
go faster. At this point, what affect will adding energy have on the protons?