World's only instant tutoring platform
Search questions and Textbooks
dropdown-logo
Get 2 FREE Instant-Explanations on Filo with code FILOAPP
Question

Question asked by Filo student

Problem 5. (15 pts) In the "Big Bang", the universe started very hot, so hot that there were no nuclei, only separated nucleons. As the universe expanded, it cooled, and nucleons then started to clump together, forming the elements. However, the expansion was so fast that there was only time to form the light elements (hydrogen, deuterium, helium, and a little lithium) before the density was too small for clumping to occur. Elements heavier than these were formed much, much later, inside massive stars. The heavy elements got out of these stars after the stars had burned up all of their available nuclear fuel, and with nothing to keep them hot, they collapsed, rebounded, and blew most of their mass into interstellar space. In these collapsing and rebounding stars, the densities were at one point so large that any nuclei that could be made were made. In particular, let's assume that U238 and U235 were created in these stars with equal abundances. After this matter was ejected from the initial massive star (and went on to form the Earth), these uranium isotopes decayed, decreasing their abundances. The present-day relative abundance of U235 is 0.7%, much smaller than that of U238, 99.3%, because U235 has a shorter lifetime. The lifetimes of these isotopes are 1.02x10^9 years and 6.52x10^9 years, respectively. Using this information, estimate the time since these elements were ejected from the massive star.

tutor 0tutor 1tutor 2
Found 8 tutors discussing this question
Discuss this question LIVE
11 mins ago
Video Solution

Filo tutor solution

Learn from their 1-to-1 discussion with Filo tutors.

Solution Available
Generate FREE solution for this question from our expert tutors in next 60 seconds
Don't let anything interrupt your homework or exam prep with world’s only instant-tutoring, available 24x7
filo Logo
Question Text
Problem 5. (15 pts) In the "Big Bang", the universe started very hot, so hot that there were no nuclei, only separated nucleons. As the universe expanded, it cooled, and nucleons then started to clump together, forming the elements. However, the expansion was so fast that there was only time to form the light elements (hydrogen, deuterium, helium, and a little lithium) before the density was too small for clumping to occur. Elements heavier than these were formed much, much later, inside massive stars. The heavy elements got out of these stars after the stars had burned up all of their available nuclear fuel, and with nothing to keep them hot, they collapsed, rebounded, and blew most of their mass into interstellar space. In these collapsing and rebounding stars, the densities were at one point so large that any nuclei that could be made were made. In particular, let's assume that U238 and U235 were created in these stars with equal abundances. After this matter was ejected from the initial massive star (and went on to form the Earth), these uranium isotopes decayed, decreasing their abundances. The present-day relative abundance of U235 is 0.7%, much smaller than that of U238, 99.3%, because U235 has a shorter lifetime. The lifetimes of these isotopes are 1.02x10^9 years and 6.52x10^9 years, respectively. Using this information, estimate the time since these elements were ejected from the massive star.
TopicAll topics
SubjectPhysics
ClassClass 12