The nuclear process that takes place in an atomic bomb or in a nuclear reactor, in a more controlled fashion, is illustrated in the highly simplified diagram shown below. In reality, the splitting of U235
into the same parts each time is not realistic.
Ba-141
U-235
112
Kr-92
The barium and krypton formed in the nuclear reaction above are each radioactive since they are too
neutron rich, so each atom undergoes nuclear decay that changes a neutron into a proton within the
nucleus. Based on the information, what type of particle will be emitted from the nuclei of barium
and krypton?