ACTIVITY 14.

PROBLEMS RELATED TO ENERGY “SOURCES”

(Answer Key)

1. The more prevalent isotope of uranium is 238U. Neutrons which don’t cause nuclei of 235U to
fission can also be absorbed by nuclei of 238U to form nuclei of 239U, which decays to 239Np with
a half life of 23.5 minutes, and 239Np decays to 239Pu with a half life of 2.35 days. The half life
of 239Pu, however, is 24,390 years, easily long enough for its mass to be measured. 239Pu, it turns
out, can also be fissioned by neutrons – and in nuclear reactors, the 239Pu formed accounts for
about a third of all the fissions and energy released. If it doesn’t fission, 239Pu decays to 235U by
emitting an alpha particle, which is a nucleus of an atom of 4He. The masses of these particles,
in atomic mass units, is
239
Pu: 239.0621
235
U: 235.0439
4
He: 4.0026

and 1 atomic mass unit is 1.67 x 10-27 kg.

a. How many joules of energy are released by the radioactive decay of one 239Pu nucleus?

Ans: energy released = mass difference*square of speed of light =

(239.0621 – (235.0439 + 4.0026)) amu*1.67 x 10-27 kg/amu*(3.00 x 108 m/s)2 =
2.35 x 10-12 J/239Pu

b. How many joules of energy are released by the radioactive decay of one kg of 239Pu nucleus?

Ans: 1 239Pu nucleus = 239*1.67 x 10-27 kg = 3.99 x 10-25 kg, so

1 kg 239Pu = (1/3.99 x 10-25) 239Pu nuclei = 2.51 x 1024 Pu-nuclei
energy released from 1 kg 239Pu = 2.51 x 1024 Pu-nuclei/kg*2.35 x 10-12 J/239Pu =
59.0 x1011 J/kg

c. What is the mass equivalent of the energy released by the radioactive decay of one kg of 239Pu
nucleus? Could it be measured in the laboratory?

Ans: 59.0 x1011 J/(3.00 x 108 m/s)2 = 6.56 x 10-5 kg, which could be measured on a laboratory
balance that measures to the nearest 0.01 gram.

Teaching About Energy page 14.1 ©2003 AAPT, John L. Roeder

2. The energy transformed into thermal form by burning various hydrocarbons is given in
kilojoules per mole and kilojoules per gram in the following table:

Name of Formula of Energy per mole Energy per gram

compound compound (kJ/mol) (kJ/g)
methane CH4 890 55.6
ethane C2H6 1559 52.0
propane C3H8 2219 50.4
butane C4H10 Data not
available
pentane C5H12 3508 48.7
hexane C6H14 4161 48.4
heptane C7H16 4809 48.1
octane C8H18 5448 47.8
nonane C9H20 Data not
available
decane C10H22 6734 47.4

a. What is the energy released by burning a kilogram of each of these hydrocarbons?

b. The mass equivalent of these energies (in kg) is obtained by dividing the energy (in joules)
by the square of the speed of light. Calculate the mass equivalent of these energies. What
does your answer tell you about why mass has been considered to be conserved in chemical
reactions?

Ans: The answers are given in the following table:

Name of Formula of Energy Energy per gram Energy per kg mass

compound compound per mole (kJ/g) (J/kg) equivalent (kg)
(kJ/mol)
methane CH4 890 55.6 55600000 6.18E-10
ethane C2H6 1559 52.0 52000000 5.78E-10
propane C3H8 2219 50.4 50400000 5.6E-10
butane C4H10 Data not 0 0
available
pentane C5H12 3508 48.7 48700000 5.41E-10
hexane C6H14 4161 48.4 48400000 5.38E-10
heptane C7H16 4809 48.1 48100000 5.34E-10
octane C8H18 5448 47.8 47800000 5.31E-10
nonane C9H20 Data not 0 0
available
decane C10H22 6734 47.4 47400000 5.27E-10

The mass equivalent of the energy released when a kilogram of these hydrocarbon fuels is
burned is too small to measure in a laboratory. To the precision available on laboratory

Teaching About Energy page 14.2 ©2003 AAPT, John L. Roeder

balances, the mass of the products of the combustion of these fuels plus the oxygen reacting with
them to burn is the same as the mass of the product molecules of water and carbon dioxide. In
general, mass appears to be conserved in chemical reactions.

3. Finally, consider the transformation of gravitational potential energy into electrical energy at
Hoover Dam, which is 221 m tall.

a. How much gravitational potential energy can be transformed into electrical energy by a
kilogram of water falling this distance?

Ans: (1 kg)( 9.8 m/s2)(221 m) = 2166 J

b. At peak operation, 300,000 gallons of water pass through the turbogenerators every second.
Given that 1 gallon = 3.784 L and that water has a density of 1 kg/L, what is the peak flow of
water in kg/s?

Ans: (3 x 105 gal/s)(3.784 L/gal)(1 kg/L) = 1.14 x 106 kg/s

c. Given the gravitational potential energy that can be transformed into electrical energy by
each kilogram of water passing through the turbogenerators, what is the peak power of the
dam?

Ans: (1.14 x 106 kg/s)(2166 J/kg) = 2.47 x 109 W = 2470 MW.

4. How do the relative amounts of energy per kilogram of uranium, hydrocarbons, and water
compare with each other and with the relative strength of the corresponding fundamental force of
nature responsible for the action of each fuel?

Ans: 1 kg water passing through the turbogenerators of Hoover Dam transforms

2166 joules of gravitational potential energy.
1 kg hydrocarbon fuel transforms about 50 megajoules of electric potential energy in
chemical reactions.
1 kg 239Pu transforms almost 6 terajoules of nuclear potential energy in radioactive
decay.
The stronger the force responsible for the action of the fuel, the greater the amount of
energy transformed by the action of 1 kg of fuel.

5. The “usefulness” of an energy “source” lies in its availability to react to transform energy into
its desired form (e.g., electrical, thermal) when it is needed. What mechanisms are used to
control the reaction of energy “sources” in the following situations?

Ans: a. Uranium fission is controlled by controlling the number of neutrons striking the
uranium.

Teaching About Energy page 14.3 ©2003 AAPT, John L. Roeder

 b. Combustion of hydrocarbons is controlled by keeping the temperature sufficiently low.
In order for hydrocarbon molecules to react with oxygen molecules, the bonds in these molecules
must be broken, and this requires an external source of energy – usually a match.

c. The flow of falling water is controlled by a dam or a spillway.

Teaching About Energy page 14.4 ©2003 AAPT, John L. Roeder

Name(s): _________________________________ Date: _______________ Period: ________

ACTIVITY 14. PROBLEMS RELATED TO ENERGY “SOURCES”

Because of the First Law of Thermodynamics, energy is never "used." Rather, it is

transformed – from a form that is available into a form that can meet a particular need. Suppose
you want to watch television. You need energy that charged particles bring in the flow of
electric current. That energy could come from water falling over a dam or from the heat released
when a fossil fuel is burned in air or when nuclei of uranium undergo fission by neutrons. Each
of these "sources" for the energy transmitted by the electric circuit is a form of stored, or
potential energy. These forms of energy are also broadly classified as "fuels."

Fuels release energy in other forms when objects interacting by one of the fundamental
forces of nature rearrange themselves into a new pattern in which they are more tightly bound to
each other and hence more stable. If water falls over a dam, it does so because the Earth
interacts with it via a gravitational force. The fallen water is more tightly bound to the earth, and
the gravitational potential energy has been transformed by the generators in the dam into energy
of charged particles in an electric current.

When hydrocarbons in fossil fuels burn in air, electromagnetic forces cause atoms of
hydrogen and carbon in the hydrocarbon molecules to interact with atoms of the oxygen
molecules in the air. This interaction results in molecules of water and carbon dioxide, in which
the atoms are more tightly bound to each other. Energy is transformed into thermal form: the
average kinetic energy of the resultant molecules of water and carbon dioxide is greater than that
of the reacting molecules of hydrocarbons and oxygen.

Likewise, neutrons and protons in nuclei of atoms, which interact via the strong or
nuclear force, can rearrange themselves into more stable arrangements, in which the neutrons
and protons are more tightly bound to each other. This happens in nuclear reactors when
neutrons bombard nuclei of uranium and cause uranium atoms to fission, or split. This was first
observed in Berlin in 1938, the eve of World War II, by Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann. The
nuclear fission process was identified by the analysis of Lise Meitner and her nephew Otto Frish:

. . . Hahn and Strassmann were forced to conclude that isotopes of barium (Z=56) are formed as a consequence
of the bombardment of uranium (Z=92) with neutrons.

On the basis . . . of present ideas about the behavior of heavy nuclei . . . the particles in a heavy nucleus would
be expected to move in a collective way which has some resemblance to the movement of a liquid drop. If the
movement is made sufficiently violent by adding energy, such a drop may divide itself into two smaller drops.
(L. Meitner and O. R. Frisch, Nature, 143, 239 (1939), reprinted in J. Marion (ed.), A Universe of Physics
(Wiley, New York, 1970), p. 211)

Today we know that the fissionable isotope of uranium is 235U, which accounts for less
than 1% of all the uranium in the world. If one of the fission products is an isotope of barium,
then the other must be an isotope of krypton. If three neutrons are also released in the fission
reaction one possible combination of barium and krypton isotopes is 142Ba and 91Kr.

Teaching About Energy page 14.5 ©2003 AAPT, John L. Roeder

 In the special theory of relativity Einstein realized that the energy released in this
fission reaction was associated with a decrease in mass and that the conservation of energy
includes mass as one of its forms: the mass of the products, three neutrons plus 142Ba and 91Kr,
is less than that of the original reactants, a neutron plus 235U. One can calculate the energy
released by finding the difference in mass between that of the reactants and that of the products,
then multiplying by the square of the speed of light (3.00 x 108 m/s). However, both fission
products are radioactive, decaying into other products with very short half lives (10 seconds for
91
Kr and six minutes for 142Ba). These half lives are too short to allow the masses of these
fission products to be measured.

1. The more prevalent isotope of uranium is 238U. Neutrons which don’t cause nuclei of 235U to
fission can also be absorbed by nuclei of 238U to form nuclei of 239U, which decays to 239Np with
a half life of 23.5 minutes, and 239Np decays to 239Pu with a half life of 2.35 days. The half life
of 239Pu, however, is 24,390 years, easily long enough for its mass to be measured. 239Pu, it turns
out, can also be fissioned by neutrons – and in nuclear reactors, the 239Pu formed accounts for
about a third of all the fissions and energy released. If it doesn’t fission, 239Pu decays to 235U by
emitting an alpha particle, which is a nucleus of an atom of 4He. The masses of these particles,
in atomic mass units, is
239
Pu: 239.0621
235
U: 235.0439
4
He: 4.0026

and 1 atomic mass unit is 1.67 x 10-27 kg.

a. How many joules of energy are released by the radioactive decay of one 239Pu nucleus?

b. How many joules of energy are released by the radioactive decay of one kg of 239Pu nucleus?

c. What is the mass equivalent of the energy released by the radioactive decay of one kg 239Pu
nucleus? Could it be measured in the laboratory?

Teaching About Energy page 14.6 ©2003 AAPT, John L. Roeder

2. The energy transformed into thermal form by burning various hydrocarbons is given in
kilojoules per mole and kilojoules per gram in the following table:

Name of Formula of Energy per mole Energy per gram

compound compound (kJ/mol) (kJ/g)
methane CH4 890 55.6
ethane C2H6 1559 52.0
propane C3H8 2219 50.4
butane C4H10 Data not
available
pentane C5H12 3508 48.7
hexane C6H14 4161 48.4
heptane C7H16 4809 48.1
octane C8H18 5448 47.8
nonane C9H20 Data not
available
decane C10H22 6734 47.4

a. What is the energy released by burning a kilogram of each of these hydrocarbons? (Enter
your result in an additional column of the table above.)

b. The mass equivalent of these energies (in kg) is obtained by dividing the energy (in joules)
by the square of the speed of light. Calculate the mass equivalent of these energies. What does
your answer tell you about why mass has been considered to be conserved in chemical reactions?

3. Finally, consider the transformation of gravitational potential energy into electrical energy at
Hoover Dam, which is 221 m tall.

a. How much gravitational potential energy can be transformed into electrical energy by a
kilogram of water falling this distance?

b. At peak operation, 300,000 gallons of water pass through the turbogenerators every second.
Given that 1 gallon = 3.784 L and that water has a density of 1 kg/L, what is the peak flow of
water in kg/s?

c. Given the gravitational potential energy that can be transformed into electrical energy by
each kilogram of water passing through the turbogenerators, what is the peak power of the dam?

Teaching About Energy page 14.7 ©2003 AAPT, John L. Roeder

4. How do the relative amounts of energy per kilogram of uranium, hydrocarbons, and water
compare with each other and with the relative strength of the corresponding fundamental force of
nature responsible for the action of each fuel?

5. The “usefulness” of an energy “source” lies in its availability to react to transform energy into
its desired form (e.g., electrical, thermal) when it is needed. What mechanisms are used to
control the reaction of energy “sources” in the following situations?

a. fissioning of uranium

b. burning of hydrocarbon fuels

c. falling of water

Teaching About Energy page 14.8 ©2003 AAPT, John L. Roeder