Calculate and compare the energy released by
Calculate and compare the energy released by (a) fusion of 1.0 kg of hydrogen deep within Sun and (b) the fission of 1.0 kg of 235U in a fission reactor.
(a) Amount of hydrogen, m = 1 kg = 1000 g
1 mole, i.e., $1 \mathrm{~g}$ of hydrogen $\left({ }_{1}^{1} \mathrm{H}\right)$ contains $6.023 \times 10^{23}$ atoms.
$\therefore 1000 \mathrm{~g}$ of ${ }_{1}^{1} \mathrm{H}$ contains $6.023 \times 10^{23} \times 1000$ atoms.
Within the sun, four ${ }_{1}^{1} \mathrm{H}$ nuclei combine and form one ${ }_{2}^{4} \mathrm{He}$ nucleus. In this process $26 \mathrm{MeV}$ of energy is released.
Hence, the energy released from the fusion of $1 \mathrm{~kg}{ }^{1} \mathrm{H}$ is:
$E_{1}=\frac{6.023 \times 10^{23} \times 26 \times 10^{3}}{4}$
$=39.1495 \times 10^{26} \mathrm{MeV}$
(b) Amount of ${ }_{92}^{235} \mathrm{U}=1 \mathrm{~kg}=1000 \mathrm{~g}$
1 mole, i.e., $235 \mathrm{~g}$ of ${ }_{92}^{235} \mathrm{U}$ contains $6.023 \times 10^{23}$ atoms.
$\therefore 1000 \mathrm{~g}$ of $_{92}^{235} \mathrm{U}$ contains $\frac{6.023 \times 10^{23} \times 1000}{235}$ atoms
It is known that the amount of energy released in the fission of one atom of ${ }_{2}^{235} \mathrm{U}$ is $200 \mathrm{MeV}$.
Hence, energy released from the fission of $1 \mathrm{~kg}$ of ${ }_{92}^{235} \mathrm{U}$ is:
$E_{2}=\frac{6 \times 10^{23} \times 1000 \times 200}{235}$
$=5.106 \times 10^{26} \mathrm{MeV}$
$\therefore \frac{E_{1}}{E_{1}}=\frac{39.1495 \times 10^{26}}{5.106 \times 10^{26}}=7.67 \approx 8$
Therefore, the energy released in the fusion of 1 kg of hydrogen is nearly 8 times the energy released in the fission of 1 kg of uranium.