Alternate energy - Journal of Chemical Education (ACS Publications)

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~ o O'Connor d Texas A&M University College Station. TX 77843

Alternate Energy1 Thomas E. Taylor Texas A&M Uniuersity College Station, TX 77843 Coal, one of our more abundant energy sources, is hurned

to produce Con with a release of heat. A H O z s s = 94.0 kcallmole COY.One of the minor impurities in coal is uranium, itself a potential source of energy via a nuclear fission reaction. The average energy released per uranium atom that undergoes fission is 200 Mev (million electron volts). At what concentration level, in ppm, does that energy potential of the uranium match that of the carbon? (Measured uranium levels in coal are usually in the range of 7 to 8 ppm.) Answer:0.4 ppm (much below the actual level; but the actual level is too law to bother extracting it.) Detailed solutions available. Address your requests to Rod O'Connar, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843.

'Adapted from Mastery Level problems in Study Guide for Chemical Principles, Third Edition,T. E. Taylor, Benjamin Cumminga, 1979.

500 / Journal of Chemical Education