Engineering Physics Questions and Answers – Nuclear Fusion

This set of Engineering Physics Multiple Choice Questions & Answers (MCQs) focuses on “Nuclear Fusion”.

1. Nuclear fusion is the phenomenon of ___________
a) Heavy nucleus splitting
b) Heavy nuclei combining
c) Light nucleus splitting
d) Light nuclei combining
View Answer

Answer: d
Explanation: Nuclear fusion is the process in which two or more lighter nuclei fuse together to form a single stable and heavy nucleus.

2. The fusion reaction takes place under ________
a) High Temperature and Low Pressure
b) Low Temperature and High Pressure
c) High Temperature and High Pressure
d) Low Temperature and Low Pressure
View Answer

Answer: c
Explanation: The fusion reaction takes place under the conditions of extremely high temperature (≈ 107 K) and pressure. This is necessary so that the protons have high enough Kinetic Energy to overcome their mutual repulsion.

3. Which process happens inside a star?
a) Electron Excitation
b) Nuclear fusion
c) Nuclear fission
d) Diffusion
View Answer

Answer: b
Explanation: Throughout their lives, the stars undergo Nuclear fusion. Hydrogen and helium atoms fuse together to forge heavier elements.
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4. The two types of cycles proposed in the stars for fusion are ________
a) p-p cycle and p-e cycle
b) p-p cycle and C-N cycle
c) p-p cycle and p-C cycle
d) p-p cycle and p-N cycle
View Answer

Answer: b
Explanation: The two types of thermonuclear reactions that have been proposed into the stars for fusion are the Proton (p-p) cycle and the Carbon-Nitrogen (C-N) cycle.

5. In the Proton cycle, the hydrogen and deuteron fuse to form ___________
a) Deuteron
b) Tritium
c) Helium – 3
d) Helium – 4
View Answer

Answer: c
Explanation: The process is as follows: 2D + 1H -> 3He + Q X 2
The deuteron combines with a proton to yield Helium-3.

6. In the Carbon-Nitrogen cycle, nitrogen acts as a nuclear catalyst.
a) True
b) False
View Answer

Answer: b
Explanation: In this cycle, carbon acts as a nuclear catalyst. The nitrogen is used as a reactant in the reaction and even a radioactive isotope of Nitrogen is formed.

7. The Q-value for both, the p-p cycle and the C-N cycle is same.
a) True
b) False
View Answer

Answer: a
Explanation: The Q-value for both the cycles turns out to be 26.7 MeV. Both the p-p cycle and the C-N cycle’s net reaction is that four hydrogen atoms fuse together to form a helium atom and 26.7 MeV of energy.
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8. What would be the effect of a nuclear holocaust?
a) Nuclear Summer
b) Nuclear Spring
c) Nuclear Autumn
d) Nuclear Winter
View Answer

Answer: d
Explanation: It is predicted that in the event of a nuclear holocaust, the radioactive waste will hang like a cloud in the earth’s atmosphere. It will absorb the sun’s radiation resulting in a nuclear winter.

9. The unit used to measure the dose of radiation is ____________
a) Joule
b) Roentgen
c) Nuclei
d) m2
View Answer

Answer: b
Explanation: The unit used to measure the dose of radiation is roentgen. A single dose of one roentgen is defined to be the radiation that produces 1.6 X 1012 pairs of ions in 1 gm of air.
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10. What should be the product of this fusion reaction?
The product of this fusion reaction is Helium – 4 in given diagram
a) Helium – 3
b) Helium – 4
c) Helium – 5
d) Boron
View Answer

Answer: b
Explanation: The given figure can be expressed as the equation:
2H + 3H -> X + 1n, where X is the desired product.
As we know, the sum of mass numbers of reactants is equal to the mass number of the product. Therefore, the mass number of X should be 4.
Thus, it should be a Helium-4 ion.

Sanfoundry Global Education & Learning Series – Engineering Physics.

To practice all areas of Engineering Physics, here is complete set of 1000+ Multiple Choice Questions and Answers.

If you find a mistake in question / option / answer, kindly take a screenshot and email to [email protected]

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Manish Bhojasia - Founder & CTO at Sanfoundry
Manish Bhojasia, a technology veteran with 20+ years @ Cisco & Wipro, is Founder and CTO at Sanfoundry. He lives in Bangalore, and focuses on development of Linux Kernel, SAN Technologies, Advanced C, Data Structures & Alogrithms. Stay connected with him at LinkedIn.

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