Question

In the wake of the April 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, large quantities of radioactive material rose over a kilometer from the force of the explosion and fire. The winds carried the β ^- -active cesium-137 isotope to Europe.

a) Write the nuclide degradation reaction.

b) Calculate the decomposition energy of cesium.

Answer 1

a) The equation:

$$^{137}_{55}\text{Cs}→^{137}_{56}\text{Ba}+^0_{-1}\beta.$$

b) The decomposition energy of the isotope:

$$E=\Delta mc^2,\\ E=(136.907089-136.905 827-0.000549)931.5,\\ E=1.12\text{ MeV}.$$