Which one of the following statements is true for nuclear fission processes?
Light initial nuclides have lesser number of neutrons than protons.
Heavy initial nuclides have lesser number of neutrons than protons.
All initial nuclides have larger number of neutrons than protons.
All initial nuclides have equal number of protons and neutrons.
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UPSC Geoscientist – 2022
Nuclear fission involves the splitting of heavy atomic nuclei, such as isotopes of Uranium or Plutonium. For stable nuclei, as the atomic number (number of protons, Z) increases, the ratio of neutrons (N) to protons increases beyond 1 to compensate for the increasing electrostatic repulsion between protons. Heavy nuclei that undergo fission are located well above the line of stability on an N-Z chart and are typically neutron-rich. For example, Uranium-235 has 92 protons and 143 neutrons (N/Z ≈ 1.55), and Uranium-238 has 92 protons and 146 neutrons (N/Z ≈ 1.59). Thus, the heavy initial nuclides involved in fission processes have a larger number of neutrons than protons.
– Fission involves heavy nuclei.
– Heavy stable and fissionable nuclei have N > Z.
– The neutron-to-proton ratio increases with increasing atomic number for stable nuclei.