Assume that immediately after the fission of 236U according to Eq. 43-1, the resulting 140Xe and 94Sr nuclei are just touching at their surfaces.
(a) Assuming the nuclei to be spherical, calculate the electric potential energy associated with the repulsion between the two fragments. (Use Eq. 42-3 to calculate the radii of the fragments.)
(b) Compare this energy with the energy released in a typical fission event.