Nuclear physics! #2
Level
2
If more than one neutron in a fission reaction causes another fission event, the condition is called................
Supercritical
Cascading
Critical
Subcritical
This section requires Javascript.
You are seeing this because something didn't load right. We suggest you, (a) try
refreshing the page, (b) enabling javascript if it is disabled on your browser and,
finally, (c)
loading the
non-javascript version of this page
. We're sorry about the hassle.
1 solution
In nuclear fission, one needs to heed attention to the reaction's k -value which is:
k = (number of neutrons in one generation) / (number of neutrons in the preceding generation)
For various values:
k < 1 ⇒ Subcritical (less neutrons are generated as the reaction progresses). This can be increased be raising a nuclear reactor's control rods.
k = 1 ⇒ Critical (equal number of neutrons are generated as the reaction progresses). This is the most desirable level in a nuclear power plant's daily operation.
k > 1 ⇒ Supercritical (more neutrons are generated as the reaction progresses). This can be decreased by lowering a nuclear reactor's control rods to absorb these excess neutrons.
How the k − value is computed is based on the Six-Factor Formula from nuclear engineering, which is covered in-depth here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six factor formula