Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann discovered fission by bombarding uranium with neutrons.Their discovery was made possible by finding one of the fission products,barium (Ba,atomic no.= 56).What is a reasonable explanation for why they were unable to initially observe the other product,krypton (Kr,atomic no.= 36)?
A)Krypton is a noble gas and it may have diffused out of the sample.
B)The isotope of krypton generated might have a short half-life and had undergone radioactive decay to some other element.
C)Krypton is a noble gas and therefore chemically unreactive,making it difficult to characterize by chemical means.
D)both A and B
E)all of the above

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Krypton's nature as a noble gas means it could have diffused out of the sample due to its low reactivity (A), and its potential short-lived isotope could have decayed, making it hard to detect (B). Additionally, its chemical inertness (C) would make it difficult to identify through chemical methods.

Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann Discovered Fission by Bombarding Uranium