How do you balance nuclear fission equations?
1 Answer
The sums of the superscripts and of the subscripts must be the same on each side of the equation.
Here are some links that show how to balance nuclear equations.
http://socratic.org/questions/how-do-you-balance-nuclear-equations?source=search
http://socratic.org/questions/how-do-you-complete-and-balance-nuclear-equations?source=search
http://socratic.org/questions/what-balanced-equation-represents-nuclear-fusion
EXAMPLE
Complete the following equation for the fission of uranium-235.
Solution
On the left hand side, sum of subscripts = 92 + 0 = 92
On the right hand side, sum of subscripts = 56 +
On the left hand side, sum of superscripts = 235 + 1 = 236
On the right hand side, sum of superscripts = 142 +
The symbol for a nucleus is
The element with
Thus, the unknown nucleus is
The balanced nuclear equation is