Homework #3 Examples
Energy Update!
Research/Paper Proposal Due this Wednesday
(consult syllabus)
Mid Term 3/12/14, study guide the class before
Review Last Lecture 8
Fossil Fuels
Nuclear Energy
Today’s Material: Lecture 9
Nuclear Energy
Activity 3
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/now-the-two-most-famous-scientific-institutions-in-britain-andthe-us-agree-climate-change-is-more-certain-than-ever-9155396.html
http://royalsociety.org/uploadedFiles/Royal_Society_Content/policy/projects/climate-evidencecauses/climate-change-evidence-causes.pdf
“The speed of global warming is now 10 times
faster than at the end of the last ice age, which
represents the most rapid period of sustained
temperature change on a global scale in history and there is no end in sight if carbon emissions
continue to increase.”
“climate change is now more certain than ever
and that many lines of evidence point to human
activity as the cause.”
A boat is seen among the icebergs that
broke off from the Jakobshavn Glacier in
Ilulissat, Greenland
“Some areas of active debate and ongoing
research include the link between ocean heat
content and the rate of warming, estimates of
how much warming to expect in the future, and
the connections between climate change and
extreme weather events”
Formation of an oil deposit
in a geological structure
called an anticline, in which
rock layers have bent
upward. The oil originally
forms in the source rock,
then migrates upward
through the porous layer to
collect at the top, where it
is trapped by the overlying
impermeable rock. Natural
gas may collect above the
oil.
http://earththeoperatorsmanual.com/segment/3
Simplified diagram of the
fractional distillation process
used in oil refining, showing
temperatures at which
different products condense
out of the distillation column.
http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=4390
Source: U.S. Energy
Information Administration,
International Energy
Statistics.
Note: With about 15 million
short tons in total
consumption, the Middle
East was by far the smallest
coal-consuming region and
was too small to show on the
map. In the animation, the
line chart at the bottom
shows the annual
production of coal by region
in billion short tons.
http://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/
https://blogs.law.harvard.edu/mesh/2007/12/who_has_oil/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oil_Reserves.png
15 June 2009
http://theallaroundoilman.blogspot.com/2010/10/oil-and-gas-map-of-texas.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubbert_peak_theory
Peak oil, an event based on M. King
Hubbert's theory, is the point in time
when the maximum rate of petroleum
extraction is reached, after which the
rate of production is expected to enter
terminal decline.
Choosing a particular curve determines
a point of maximum production based
on discovery rates, production rates and
cumulative production. Early in the
curve (pre-peak), the production rate
increases because of the discovery rate
and the addition of infrastructure. Late
in the curve (post-peak), production
declines because of resource depletion.
“Solar system” model of
the helium atom, with a
nucleus consisting of two
protons and two neutrons.
http://avonapbio.pbworks.com/w/page/9429249/Atomic%20Number%20and%20Atomic%20Mass
http://www.windows2universe.org/physical_science/physics/atom_particle/atomic_mass.html
Here you can see an example of
atomic weight, atomic number,
and mass number.
The atomic number is the smaller
number associated with the
element and is equal to the
number of protons in the nucleus.
https://np-apchemistry.wikispaces.com/chapter3
What is Radiation?
• Radioactivity is a natural and spontaneous process by which the
unstable atoms of an element emit or radiate excess energy
• Radiation is the result
• Alpha Decay - Alpha decay occurs when the nucleus spontaneously
ejects an ά particle. An ά particle is really 2 protons and 2 neutrons, or
an Helium nucleus.
Alpha Decay of a Uranium-238 Nucleus
4
He
2
Parent Nucleus
Emitted 
Particle
238
U
92
Decay
Event 234
90
Th
Daughter
Nucleus
Key
Proton
Neutron
15
Decay Products
• Beta Decay - An excess of neutrons in an
atom's nucleus will make it unstable,
and a neutron is converted into a proton
to change this ratio. During this process,
a ß particle is released,
• Gamma ray emission usually occurs with
ά and ß emission. Gamma rays have no
charge or mass, so their emission
doesn't change the chemical
composition of the atom. Instead, it
results in a loss of radiant energy.
Gamma ray emission occurs because the
nucleus is often unstable after ά and ß
decay.
Decay Product
Penetration
17
Decay of a
radioactive
sample
containing
initially
1,000
nuclei.
The curve of binding
energy, a plot of binding
energy per nucleon versus
mass number. Individual
isotopes may lie slightly off
the general curve, as with
He-4. Arrows indicate the
energy-releasing paths of
nuclear fusion and fission.
Neutron-induced fission. (a) A neutron strikes a heavy nucleus and is absorbed. (b)
The nucleus begins to oscillate. (c) It takes on a dumbbell shape, and the repulsive
electric force begins to dominate. (d) The nucleus fissions into two unequal
middleweight nuclei, emitting several neutrons in the process.
A nuclear chain reaction. At left, a
neutron strikes a U-235 nucleus,
causing it to fission and, in this case,
release two neutrons that go on to
cause two additional fissions. Each of
those fission events releases neutrons
that cause more fission, and the chain
reaction grows exponentially. This is
what happens in a bomb. In a reactor,
the neutrons are carefully controlled
to ensure that, on average, each
fission results in only one additional
fission.
Nuclear fuel cycles. A
once- through cycle is in
black; additional steps in
a reprocessing cycle are
in gray. On-site storage
involves pools of water
for short-term storage of
fresh, highly radioactive
waste, followed by
longer-term dry cask
storage.
A hill-and-valley
analogy for fusion.
It takes substantial
energy to get the
ball up the hill, but
a lot more is
released when it
drops into the
valley.
The deuterium–tritium
fusion reaction of
Equation 7.3 produces a
helium nucleus (He-4), a
neutron, and energy.
Class Review:
Nuclear Energy
Next Class
Nuclear Energy
Terra and Luna