Do nuclear power plants follow the first and second law of thermodynamics?

1 Answer
Oct 28, 2017

The answer is #"my word...."#

Explanation:

All chemical and physical process obey the laws of thermodynamics....and you will have to look at the definitions in your text....

To simplify, the first law says #"you can't win"#....and the second law says #"you can't break even either..."#.

In a nuclear power station, electricity is provided in the same way as fossil fuel-powered power stations....water is heated to give steam, the which drives a turbine, and electricity is generated. However, here, there is some conversion of the mass of #""^235U# to energy, and of course here Einstein's famous equation operates....#E=mc^2#...

#""_92^235U +1*"neutron"rarr""# #""_56^141Ba+# #""_36^92Kr+3*"neutrons"+Delta#