Why does uranium-235 fission produce extra neutrons?

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mandy9008
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Homework Statement


Fission reaction:
10n + 23592U --> 14156 + 9236 Kr + 3(10n)

Why in the world is there a neutron on the left side of this rxn? Why not just reduce the number of neutrons on the right side to two?
 
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Mathematically that would make sense, but physically the way the equation is written is the way it actually happens. A free neutron CAUSES the fission in a reactor and frees several neutrons which go on to cause other fissions - a chain reaction.