Fission of medium and heavy nuclei induced by 40Ar from 160 to 300 MeV: average total kinetic energy

Abstract

The average total kinetic energy of fission fragments for symmetric fission induced by argon ions has been measured over a wide range of fissility parameters. The results are compared with other results, with the predictions of Nix (liquid-drop model) and those of Mosel and Schmitt (two-center model). The shell effects predicted by Mosel and Schmitt are not seen, probably because of the high value of the excitation energies involved in the reactions. The variation of the total kinetic energy with the fissility parameter is rather well described by Nix but the calculated absolute values are too low. It is seems that the fissility parameter (used in the liquid-drop model) rather than the mass of the fissioning nucleus (in the Mosel and Schmitt model), is the important parameter which determines the total fragment kinetic energy of excited nuclei.