When californium-249 is bombarded by oxygen-18, a new isotope and four neutrons are produced.
Express your answer as a nuclear equation.
Well, when Californium-249 decides to have a little rendezvous with Oxygen-18, things get pretty wild. It's a bit like a science party that results in a new isotope and four neutrons crashing in. Here's how we can express it as a nuclear equation:
Cf-249 + O-18 → New Isotope + 4 neutrons
Just imagine the atoms getting all dressed up, dancing around, and then BAM - a new isotope is created with a few extra neutrons for company.
The nuclear equation for the bombardment of Californium-249 (Cf-249) by Oxygen-18 (O-18) can be represented as follows:
Cf-249 + O-18 → New Isotope + 4 neutrons
In this reaction, a new isotope is formed alongside the release of four neutrons. The specific identity of the new isotope is not provided in the question.
To express the nuclear equation for the bombardment of Californium-249 with Oxygen-18, we need to consider the conservation of both atomic and mass numbers.
Californium-249 has an atomic number of 98 and a mass number of 249. Oxygen-18 has an atomic number of 8 and a mass number of 18.
The bombardment of Californium-249 with Oxygen-18 results in the creation of a new isotope and four neutrons. Let's represent the new isotope with "X."
The nuclear equation can be written as:
^24998Cf + ^189O -> ^249+X + 4^10n
In this equation, the atomic numbers and mass numbers on both sides of the equation are equal, satisfying the conservation of atomic and mass numbers.
Therefore, the nuclear equation for the bombardment of Californium-249 with Oxygen-18 is:
^24998Cf + ^189O -> ^249+X + 4^10n
number preceding symbol = atomic number(a subscript)
number after symbol = mass number(a superscript)
In nuclear equations the subscripts add up and the superscripts add up.
98Cf249 + 8O18 ==> nXm + on1 + on1 + on1 + on1.
So your job is to determine n, X, and m.
Remember the numbers must add up on both sides to the same thing.
For preceding number (the subscripts).
98 + 8 = n + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 so n = 106
For number after the symbol (superscripts)
249 + 18 = m + 1 +1 +1 +1
m = 249 + 18 - 4 = 263
Now look on the periodic table and identify element X, element # 106. That's Sg. So the equation, in full, is
98Cf249 + 8O18 ==> 106Sg263 + 4 on1.