Compute the minimum mass of pu-238

Reference no: EM13240432

Plutonium-238, atomic mass 238.050 g/mol, is a radioisotope that undergoes the following first-order decay with a half-life of 87.74 years. Pu-238 decays to U-234 + He . The alpha particle from Pu-238 is ejected with an energy of 5.593 MeV per particle. The spacecraft left earth on October 15, 1997. The spacecrafts radioisotope thermoelectric generators must have a rate of decay of no less than 1.44 x 10^16 Pu-238 atoms per second.

Problems:
1) Calculate the minimum mass of Pu-238 (in kilograms) that would had to have been loaded on the spacecraft at the time of its launch from earth.

2) What was the instantaneous rate of decay (in mg/sec) at the time of launch from earth?

3) How much energy will have been released (in kJ) from the time of the spacecrafts launch until April 19, 2012 (5301 days)? (1 eV = 1.60218 x 10^-19 J).

Reference no: EM13240432

Questions Cloud

Provide a quantitative analysis that compares remeasurement : Provide a quantitative analysis that compares remeasurement 1 and 2 data to the baseline data:

Define the age of the rock : Th-232 has a half-life of 1.39 x 10^10 years old. A certain rock has a Pb-208/Th-232 mass ratio of 0.25/1.00. Estimate the age of the rock.

Find the air temperature : A 65kg, 1.70m tall person is standing in a room, Find the air temperature at which the heat transfer rate by radiation is just balanced by the rate of heat generation

Assume that an apptitude test are normally distributed : Assume that an apptitude test are normally distributed. if the mean score in on 140 points and standard deviation is 25 points. find the cut off passing grade such that 67% of those taking the exams pass?

Compute the minimum mass of pu-238 : Calculate the minimum mass of Pu-238 (in kilograms) that would had to have been loaded on the spacecraft at the time of its launch from earth.

Find the net force on the person : Seat belts and air bags save lives by reducing the forces exerted on the driver, A 58kg person is in a head-on collision. The car's speed at impact is 13m/s. Estimate the net force on the person if he or she is wearing a seat belt and if the air ..

A random sample of 50 men 40% said they preferred walking : A random sample of 50 men, 40% said they preferred walking up stairs than taking the elevator. In a random sample of 40 women

Determine whether a marketing campaign to increase spending : Determine whether a marketing campaign to increase spending at a direct marketing retailer has resulted in incremental spend. For this campaign, I have two groups: Test and Control. I mail 75,000 customers (Test group) offering them rewards if they s..

Polynesians introduce to the islands they colonized : Which of the following combinations of food did the Polynesians introduce to the islands they colonized?

User Account

All Pages