Nuclear reactions — UPSC IFoS 2022 Physics PYQ

(i) What is Q-value and how does it help to study the kinematics of a nuclear reaction? (ii) Prove that {}^{252}\text{Cf} can undergo spontaneous fission as under : {}^{252}\text{Cf} = {}^{98}\text{Zr} + {}^{145}\text{Ce} + 9 {}^{1}\text{n} Given : \begin{aligned} M(^{252}\text{Cf}) &= 252\cdot 081621\text{ a.m.u.}\\ M(^{98}\text{Zr}) &= 97\cdot 912735\text{ a.m.u.}\\ M(^{145}\text{Ce}) &= 144\cdot 917230\text{ a.m.u.}\\ M(^{1}\text{n}) &= 1\cdot 008665\text{ a.m.u.} \end{aligned}