Re: Lost Mass in Chemical Reactions
From: Richard Tobin (richard_at_cogsci.ed.ac.uk)
Date: 01/30/05
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Date: 30 Jan 2005 18:52:25 GMT
In article <ctj8l5$4mv$1@sparta.btinternet.com>,
Franz Heymann <franz.heymann@btopenworld.com> wrote:
>> What's more, even in (say) the fission of uranium, the energy is
>> released as a result of the re-arrangement of electrical charges
>> into a less energetic configuration, just as in a chemical
>> reaction. It's just that in fission it's a first order effect
>> where positive charges are re-arranged, while in chemistry it's a
>> second order effect where neutral mixtures of positive and negative
>> charges are re-arranged.
>That is an unorthodox way of putting it. Am I wrong in having thought
>that the fission reaction is caused by a *strong* interaction between
>theneutron and the nucleus?
The strong nuclear force holds the protons together tightly enough to
overcome the electrical repulsion between them, like a spring held
tightly coiled in a box. When the nucleus is disturbed (say by a
neutron hitting it) the repulsion is sufficient to break the nucleus
apart, and the energy stored in the configuration of the protons is
released.
Suppose you hold two magnets with their north poles together, and then
let go. Wouldn't you say that the kinetic energy of the magnets as
they spring apart comes from the magnetic replusion? Rather than
ascribing it to the force in your fingers that was holding it together
before?
-- Richard
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