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Investigation of the statistical distribution of spontaneous U238 fission acts according to the energies of the two fragments

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Abstract

Using an apparatus consisting of a double pulse ionization chamber, two amplifying channels, a coincidence circuit and a two-beam pulsed oscillograph, we measured the kinetic energy of each of the two fragments formed during nuclear fission. 780 cases of spontaneous U238 fission and about 4500 cases of U235 fission by slow neutrons were recorded. Using these data we plotted the statistical distributions of acts of spontaneous fission and fission with slow neutrons according to the energies of the two fragments. These distributions gave the following curves for the two fission methods: a) the energy spectrum of all fragments and that of light and heavy fragments separately; b) the distribution of acts according to the total kinetic energy of the two nuclear fragments; c) the distribution of fission fragments according to mass; d) the relation of the average total kinetic energy of the two fragments to the ratio of their masses; and e) the relation of the average kinetic energy of light and heavy fragments to their total kinetic energy. The results of the two methods of fission are quite similar. It was found that the total kinetic energy of the two fragments in spontaneous U238 fission was, on the average, 4 Mev less than the energy in U235 fission by slow neutrons.

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Authors
  1. B. S. Kovtigin
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  2. K. A. Petrzhak
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Kovtigin, B.S., Petrzhak, K.A. Investigation of the statistical distribution of spontaneous U238 fission acts according to the energies of the two fragments. The Soviet Journal of Atomic Energy 4, 721–728 (1958). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01515399

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01515399

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