# Problem: As discussed in the “Chemistry Put to Work” box in Section 10.8 in the textbook, enriched uranium can be produced by effusion of gaseous UF6 across a porous membrane. Suppose a process were developed to allow effusion of gaseous uranium atoms, U(g).Compare the ratio of effusion rates for 235U and 238U to the ratio for UF6 given in the essay in the textbook.

###### FREE Expert Solution

$\frac{{\mathbf{rate}}_{\mathbf{1}}}{{\mathbf{rate}}_{\mathbf{2}}}\mathbf{=}\sqrt{\frac{{\mathbf{MM}}_{\mathbf{2}}}{{\mathbf{MM}}_{\mathbf{1}}}}\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}\frac{{\mathbf{rate}}_{{}^{\mathbf{235}}\mathbf{U}}}{{\mathbf{rate}}_{{}^{\mathbf{238}}\mathbf{U}}}\mathbf{=}\sqrt{\frac{{\mathbf{MM}}_{{}_{{}^{\mathbf{238}}\mathbf{U}}}}{{\mathbf{MM}}_{{}_{{}^{\mathbf{235}}\mathbf{U}}}}}\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}\frac{{\mathbf{rate}}_{{}^{\mathbf{235}}\mathbf{U}}}{{\mathbf{rate}}_{{}^{\mathbf{238}}\mathbf{U}}}\mathbf{=}\sqrt{\frac{\mathbf{238}}{\mathbf{235}}}$

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###### Problem Details

As discussed in the “Chemistry Put to Work” box in Section 10.8 in the textbook, enriched uranium can be produced by effusion of gaseous UF6 across a porous membrane. Suppose a process were developed to allow effusion of gaseous uranium atoms, U(g).

Compare the ratio of effusion rates for 235U and 238U to the ratio for UF6 given in the essay in the textbook.