The element curium 96 Cm 248 has a mean-life of 10 13 second. Its primary decay modes are spontaneous fission and α -decay, the former with a probability of 8% and the latter with a probability of 92%. Each fission releases 200 MeV of energy. The masses involved in decay are as follows
96 Cm 248 = 248.072220 u,
2 He 4 = 4.002603 u and
94 Pu 244 = 244.064100 u.
Calculate the power output from a sample of 10 20 Cm atoms. Given: 1AMU = 931 MeV/c 2 .
Text Solution
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Sol. α-decay of Cm takes place as follows:
Mass defect 
Energy released per α-decay
Probability of spontaneous fission 
Probability of α-decay 
Energy released in each 
transformation
Energy released by 
atoms 
Mean life time 
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