Question

The mass of the fuel in a nuclear reactor decreases by an observable amount as it puts out energy. Is the same true for the coal and oxygen combined in a conventional power plant? If so, is this observable in practice for the coal and oxygen? Explain.

Short answer

The mass of the fuel in a nuclear reactor decreases by an observable amount because the energy produced in a reactor is due to nuclear fission, and thus the mass is converted into energy.

Step-by-step solution

Definition of energy

The ability to perform labour, such as the ability to move an item (with a particular mass) in a specific direction using force. Energy may take many different forms, including electrical, mechanical, chemical, thermal, and nuclear, and it can be converted between them.

Checking whether nuclear reactor decreases by an observable amount as it put out energy for coal and oxygen 

The released energy in nuclear reactors is owing to the aw of energy-mass equivalency, which converts mass to energy: \({\rm{E = m}}{{\rm{c}}^{\rm{2}}}\) as a result, the mass of the object falls by a measurable amount.

Meanwhile, combining coal and oxygen in a conventional power plant requires breaking certain chemical bonds between the molecules, resulting in energy production that is substantially lower than that of nuclear reactors and hence no significant change in coal mass.

After evaluating we get that, in a traditional power plant, combining coal and oxygen breaks certain chemical bonds between the molecules, resulting in energy output that is much lower than that of nuclear reactors, and so the mass of coal does not change considerably.