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JEE Advanced 2026Paper 2
Exam
JEE Advanced
Year
2026
Paper
Paper 2
Subject
Physics
Chapter
Nuclear Physics

JEE Advanced 2026 · Paper 2 · Physics · Nuclear Physics

A nuclear reactor starts producing a radioactive nuclide X from t =...

A nuclear reactor starts producing a radioactive nuclide XX from t=0t = 0, at a constant rate of α\alpha per second. Each decay of XX produces energy E0E_0, which is utilized to heat a liquid of mass mm and specific heat ss. Assuming no heat loss from the liquid and taking λ\lambda as the decay constant of XX, the rate of increase in the temperature of the liquid is:

Options

  1. AαE0ms(1−e−λt)\dfrac{\alpha E_0}{m s}(1 - e^{-\lambda t})
  2. BαE0ms(eλt−1)\dfrac{\alpha E_0}{m s}(e^{\lambda t} - 1)
  3. CλE0ms(1−e−λt)\dfrac{\lambda E_0}{m s}(1 - e^{-\lambda t})
  4. DE0ms(α−λe−λt)\dfrac{E_0}{m s}(\alpha - \lambda e^{-\lambda t})

Correct answer

A. αE0ms(1−e−λt)\dfrac{\alpha E_0}{m s}(1 - e^{-\lambda t})

Step-by-step solution

Let NN be the number of active nuclei at time tt. The rate of change of the number of nuclei is given by

dNdt=α−λN\dfrac{dN}{dt} = \alpha - \lambda N

Integrating with the initial condition N=0N = 0 at t=0t = 0:

∫0NdNα−λN=∫0tdt\int_{0}^{N} \dfrac{dN}{\alpha - \lambda N} = \int_{0}^{t} dt

−1λln⁡(α−λNα)=t-\dfrac{1}{\lambda} \ln\left(\dfrac{\alpha - \lambda N}{\alpha}\right) = t

N=αλ(1−e−λt)N = \dfrac{\alpha}{\lambda} (1 - e^{-\lambda t})

The rate of decay of the nuclide at time tt is

A=λN=α(1−e−λt)A = \lambda N = \alpha (1 - e^{-\lambda t})

Since each decay produces energy E0E_0, the rate of energy production is

dEdt=AE0=αE0(1−e−λt)\dfrac{dE}{dt} = A E_0 = \alpha E_0 (1 - e^{-\lambda t})

This energy is used to heat the liquid. The rate of heat absorption is

dQdt=msdTdt\dfrac{dQ}{dt} = m s \dfrac{dT}{dt}

Equating the rate of energy production to the rate of heat absorption:

msdTdt=αE0(1−e−λt)m s \dfrac{dT}{dt} = \alpha E_0 (1 - e^{-\lambda t})

dTdt=αE0ms(1−e−λt)\dfrac{dT}{dt} = \dfrac{\alpha E_0}{m s} (1 - e^{-\lambda t})

Answer: αE0ms(1−e−λt)\dfrac{\alpha E_0}{m s}(1 - e^{-\lambda t})
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