Question

In a typical fission reaction, the nucleus is split into two middle-weight nuclei of unequal masses. Which of the two (heavier or lighter) has greater kinetic energy? Which one has greater liner momentum?

Answer 1

The part that will have more kinetic energy is the lighter part.

Explanation:

• There are two scenarios here. The two parts will have the same linear momentum when the nucleus is at rest.
• The heavier part will have more linear momentum when the nucleus is not at rest.
• This is because for the momentum, the kinetic energy is inversely proportional.
• It is to be noted that two photons with equal wavelengths will have equal linear momentum because here, both the magnitude and the direction of photons linear momentum is the same.