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Ch.20 - Radioactivity and Nuclear Chemistry

Chapter 20, Problem 60

Write the nuclear equation for the fusion of H-3 with H-1 to form He-4.

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Hey everyone, we're asked to consider the nuclear fusion of nitrogen 15 and hydrogen write the equation for the reaction. If one of the product is helium for first, let's go ahead and write out what we know. We have our nitrogen 15 which has an atomic number of seven Plus our hydrogen which has an atomic number of one. We then produce our helium four which has an atomic number of two plus an unknown particle, which we can label as X. For now with an atomic massive A and an atomic number of Z. First, let's go ahead and solve for a solving for a, we're going to take the mass numbers of our nitrogen and our hydrogen, Which are 15 and one respectively. And we're going to add those two together And make it equal to four which is our atomic mass of helium plus our unknown eh solving for a, We end up with a value of 12. Next let's go ahead and sell for Z. So we have seven from our nitrogen plus one from our hydrogen. This is going to be equal to two from our helium plus our Z. Z. comes up to a value of six. So it looks like our missing particle is going to be carbon 12. So I hope this made sense. And let us know if you have any questions