Table 7.1 Energy of Various Objects and Phenomena Object/phenomenon Energy in joules Big Bang 1068 Energy released in a supernova 1044 Fusion of all the hydrogen in Earth's oceans 1034 Annual world energy use 4x1020 Large fusion bomb (9 megaton) 3.8×1016 1 kg hydrogen (fusion to helium) 6.4x1014 1 kg uranium (nuclear fission) 8.0×1013 Hiroshima-size fission bomb (10 kiloton) | 4.2x1013 90,000-ton aircraft carrier at 30 knots 1.1x1010 1 barrel crude oil 5.9x10° 1 ton TNT 4.2x10° 1 gallon of gasoline 1.2x108 Daily home electricity use (developed countries) 7x107 Daily adult food intake (recommended) 1.2x107 |1000-kg car at 90 km/h 3.1x105 1 g fat (9.3 kcal) 3.9×104 ATP hydrolysis reaction 3.2x104 1 g carbohydrate (4.1 kcal) 1.7x104 1 g protein (4.1 kcal) 1.7×104 Tennis ball at 100 km/h 22 Mosquito (10- g at 0.5 m/s) 1.3x10-6 Single electron in a TV tube beam 4.0x10¬15 Energy to break one DNA strand 10-19
Nuclear Fission
Nuclear fission is a type of nuclear reaction in which heavier nuclei split into lighter nuclei by releasing a large quantity of energy. The elements like uranium-235 and plutonium-239 isotope undergo nuclear fission releasing energy. When nuclei undergo fission, some quantity of mass is lost. The lost mass is converted to nuclear energy. Nuclear fission reaction is used in nuclear power plants and atomic bombs. In nuclear power plants, nuclear reactors are used to generate electricity.
Endothermic Nuclear Reaction
A nuclear reaction can be described as a process where two atoms, or two nuclei or nucleus and subatomic particles such as a proton, neutron interact together, and a large amount of energy is produced and new elements are also produced.
(a) Use of hydrogen fusion to supply energy is a dream that may be realized in the next century. Fusion would be a relatively clean and almost limitless supply of energy, as can be seen from Table. To illustrate this, calculate how many years the present energy needs of the world could be supplied by one millionth of the oceans’ hydrogen fusion energy. (b) How does this time compare with historically significant events, such as the duration of stable economic systems?
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