practice
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When the Apollo astronauts landed on the moon they left behind equipment to monitor
such things as the moon's internal temperature, its magnetic and gravitational
fields, seismic activity caused by moonquakes and meteor impacts, and the moon's
extremely thin atmosphere. Known collectively as the ALSEP (an acronym for Apollo
Lunar Surface Experiment Packages) these devices were powered by a small and
very simple nuclear power plant called a SNAP (an acronym for Space
Nuclear Auxiliary Power). A SNAP generator is basically a can of plutonium 238
dioxide surrounded by radiator fins with thermocouples in between. The difference
in temperature between the decaying plutonium (600 °C)
and the the radiator fins (275 °C) produces a voltage across the thermocouples
that can be used to generate electric current. The whole contraption is about
the size of an office watebasket and with no moving parts is reliable for very
long periods of time.
The SNAP-27 activated by the Apollo XIV crew on 5 February 1971
used 3.8 kg of plutonium 238 dioxide and generated 73 W of
power when first turned on. If 238PuO2 has
a half life of 87.74 years and decays via the emission of 5.593 MeV
alpha particles, determine …
- the initial power radiated by the plutonium fuel
- the initial efficiency of the generator
- the power of the generator on the anniversary of the Apollo XIV mission from the day it was turned on until its centennial.
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conceptual
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