--%>

Why is heavy water employed as a moderator

Describe why is heavy water employed as a moderator? Illustrate.

E

Expert

Verified

Heavy water is highly enriched in the hydrogen isotope deuterium. We can evaluate the neutron interactions with billiard ball collision, where the neutron collides with nucleus of other atoms and lose energy. When the colliding nucleus size is small such as hydrogen nucleus it will lose the maximum energy. When nucleus is heavy, then the neutron hits the nucleus just alters its direction however not that much change in the energy of neutron. Therefore we use heavy water as moderator to slow down the neutrons.

   Related Questions in Physics

  • Q : What is Ultraviolet catastrophe

    Ultraviolet catastrophe: It is the shortcoming of Rayleigh-Jeans formula that attempted to explain the radiance of a blackbody at different frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum. This was clearly wrong since as the frequency rose, the radiance r

  • Q : Define Newton meter What do you mean by

    What do you mean by the term Newton meter? Explain briefly?

  • Q : Formula for acceleration What is the

    What is the appropriate formula employed to compute the acceleration? Explain in brief.

  • Q : Define Heat pumps Heat pumps move heat

    Heat pumps move heat from one place to another. They work similar to refrigeration. The movement of heat takes energy, either electrical energy as in the use of  vapor compression heat pumps or thermal energy as in the use of absorption heat pump

  • Q : What is Cosmic censorship conjecture

    Cosmic censorship conjecture (R. Penrose, 1979): The conjecture, so far wholly undemonstrated in the context of general relativity, that all singularities (that is with the possible exception of the big bang singularity) are attended

  • Q : Atomic model which the Erwin

    Briefly state the atomic model which the Erwin Schrodinger creates?

  • Q : Define Van der Waals force Van der

    Van der Waals force (J.D. van der Waals): The forces responsible for non-ideal behavior of gases, and for lattice energy of molecular crystals. There are three main causes: dipole-dipole interaction; dipole-induced dipole moments; and dispersion a for

  • Q : Define Planck constant Planck constant

    Planck constant: h: The basic constant equivalent to the ratio of the energy of a quantum of energy to its frequency. This is the quantum of action. This has the value 6.626 196 x 10-34 J s.

  • Q : Explain Tachyon Tachyon: The purely

    Tachyon: The purely speculative particle that is supposed to travel faster than light. According to Sir Einstein's equations of special relativity, a particle with imaginary rest mass and a velocity more than c would contain a real momentum and energy

  • Q : Explain Millikan oil drop experiment

    Millikan oil drop experiment (R.A. Millikan): A famed experiment designed to compute the electronic charge. The drops of oil were carried past a consistent electric field among charged plates. Subsequent to charging the drop with x-ra