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The following apply for the nuclear reaction: a + b ↔ R → c. in the centre of mass frame, where a and b are the initial species about to collide, c is the final species, and R is the resonant state.
In nuclear physics and chemistry, the Q value for a nuclear reaction is the amount of energy absorbed or released during the reaction. The value relates to the enthalpy of a chemical reaction or the energy of radioactive decay products. It can be determined from the masses of reactants and products. Q values affect reaction rates.
In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, a nuclear reaction is a process in which two nuclei, or a nucleus and an external subatomic particle, collide to produce one or more new nuclides. Thus, a nuclear reaction must cause a transformation of at least one nuclide to another.
The multiplication factor, k, is defined as (see nuclear chain reaction): k = number of neutrons in one generation / number of neutrons in preceding generation . If k is greater than 1, the chain reaction is supercritical, and the neutron population will grow exponentially.
If k = 1, the chain reaction is critical and the neutron population will remain constant. In an infinite medium, neutrons cannot leak out of the system and the multiplication factor becomes the infinite multiplication factor, k = k ∞ {\displaystyle k=k_{\infty }} , which is approximated by the four-factor formula.
Nuclear cross sections are used in determining the nuclear reaction rate, and are governed by the reaction rate equation for a particular set of particles (usually viewed as a "beam and target" thought experiment where one particle or nucleus is the "target", which is typically at rest, and the other is treated as a "beam", which is a projectile with a given energy).
The explosion of the Ivy Mike hydrogen bomb. The hydrogen bomb was the first device able to achieve fusion energy gain factor significantly larger than 1.. A fusion energy gain factor, usually expressed with the symbol Q, is the ratio of fusion power produced in a nuclear fusion reactor to the power required to maintain the plasma in steady state.
The decay energy is the energy change of a nucleus having undergone a radioactive decay.Radioactive decay is the process in which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by emitting ionizing particles and radiation.