Nuclear binding energy Definition and 27 Threads

The strong nuclear force keeps the protons together. The larger the number of protons, the larger the nucleus, but the weaker the bonds between the protons as the radius of the nucleus increases and more unstable is the element. However, since the strong nuclear force originates from within each...

Can I understand the relationship between binding energy and mass by comparing it to the relationship between kinetic energy and potential energy? When an object falls, its gravitational potential, a scalar value, decreases, and its energy is converted into kinetic energy. Even when a nuclear...

My professor and the book I'm reading (Particles and Nuclei: An Introduction to the Physical Concepts by Povh et al.) says that "The emitted nucleons are primarily neutrons since they are not hindered by the Coulomb threshold" which means that a neutron has a separation energy lower than a...

I'm trying to understand why neutrons don't just continually bind into large masses. As I understand it proton binding in a nucleus is governed mostly by the strong nuclear force which attracts at close distance and electromagnet force that repels. So for protons to bind, they must have enough...

This is an example from my textbook that I am having trouble understanding. So the binding energy of Beryllium-8 is positive 56.6 MeV, so it means the nuclide is stable, right? My textbook seems to use the reference of positive binding energy as being stable. And so that means alpha decay for...

I know that it has a cause! It happens to make the nucleus more stable. But some say it has no cause. I am confused actually.

The binding energy of a nucleus is the energy of the strong force, minus the disruptive energy due to the Coulomb force. Thus, to illustrate the curve of binding energy per nucleon, we can combine both of the diagrams above: https://www.physicsforums.com/attachments/3-jpg.248607/...

Hi everyone. I'm currently trying to master the use of the formula for nuclear masses from MYERS AND SWIATECKI (1969), https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0003491669902024. $$ E=[-a_1+J\delta^2+0.5(K\epsilon^2-2L\epsilon \delta^2 +M\delta^4)]A+c_2 Z^2 A^{1/3}...

I know it's a common question but I've found no answers online so far. My professor has made a point out of saying that fusion reactions after iron and nickel do release energy but just not enough to keep the star from imploding. This didn't make sense to me. How would fission release energy if...

I know that Q value of a reaction is the difference between total initial mass-energy and total final mass-energy of all the products. Then shouldn't be this also the maximum kinetic energy and hence endpoint energy of an electron in beta decay. But what I have read endpoint energy ##E_0 = Q +...

I understand that the difference in mass between the protons and neutrons and the nucleus itself is called the mass defect, and that this mass defect is converted into nuclear binding energy. What seems to confuse me is where this energy is actually stored. I've been reading 4-5 different...

What is the nuclear binding energy of N-14 in joules per mole of nuclei? The mass deficit is 0.11278. Atomic mass is 14.00307. Total mass is 14.11585. I keep getting stuck after converting and substituting it into the equation. First I converted the mass deficit into kilograms. 0.11278 =1.1278 ×...

Homework Statement The textbook on nuclear physics I am going through says: "The atomic weight M of a nuclide of mass number A can be found in the mass difference, ##\Delta##, given in column 3. The quantity ##\Delta = M-A## gives the difference between the nuclides atomic weight and its...

I read that nuclear binding energy is the energy required to separate a nucleus into its comprising nucleons. Why then is mass defect calculated from this? How is the nuclear binding energy graph used to calculate energy released from fusion? Please explain in layman's terms, if you could...

Hello everybody! :wink: I have some difficulties concerning the concept of nuclear binding energy. First, look at this example: http://www.freeimagehosting.net/newuploads/jtefo.png In the first case, the two protons have big energy. But this energy is not changing it's weight. And in the...

Hey, I'm having a hard time trying to understand what nuclear binding energy really means. In most of the introductory texts I have, they say some of the mass of the nucleus appears as binding energy (mass defect). According to the definition, shouldn't it just be the work done by strong...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_binding_energy What is nuclear binding energy ? Here are two possible answers according to the Wikipedia page : 1.Nuclear binding energy is the energy required to split a nucleus of an atom into its component parts. 2.Nuclei are made up of protons and...

Okay I'm taking an Individual Learning Course in Ontario for SPH4U and this is a Support question: How much energy would be required to remove one neutron from nitrogen-14 isotope, given these masses? a) N-14 isotope 14.0031 u b) N-13 isotope 13.0057 u Homework Equations Knowns...

If the total nuclear binding energy of a nucleus increases whenever the number of nucleons increase, why does the nuclear binding energy curve rise and then fall? Don't protons and neutrons 'bring in' the same amount of binding energy every time one of them is added? Please explain. In addition...

Revered Members, For Helium, Beryllium,Carbon,Oxygen and Neon, the Binding Energy per nucleon is more as evident from the sharp peaks observed in the graph plotted between BE and Mass number. These elements have equal number of protons and neutrons. When there is an inequality between proton...

I want to get my head around this... Why is that in nuclear fusion, the formed nucleus is more stable because its nuclear binding energy/nucleon is HIGHER than the sum of its reactants But in general chemical reactions products are more stable if their enthalpy is LOWER than the sum of...

hi there, now I've been googling around for ages now trying to find this answer but i cant i have read time and time again that a nucleus always has less mass than the sum of the masses of the nucleons in it. This is put down to the binding energy, this is where i get confused surely if it...

Hi, could someone please try and figure out where I'm going wrong here. This is a calculation for a collision between 2 helium-3 nuclei which produces 1 helium-4 nucleus and 2 protons. The numbers are taken from wikipedia. Mass before = 2(3.0160293 u) = 6.0320586 u Mass after = 1 helium-4...

Binding energy of a nucleus is defined as the energy required to separate all of its protons and neutrons and move them infinitely far apart. Does that mean it requires an infinite amount of energy to liberate the nucleons and move them a distance infinitely apart? That doesn't make any sense...

So I understand that when a nucleus is formed from its individual nucleons, that there will be a decrease in mass known as the mass defect. The mass defect can be equally converted to energy following E = mc^2 and this is the nuclear binding energy. Now, is this energy released into the...

We know that induvidual nucleons are heavier than the nucleus. So Nucleons should have more gravitational potential energy with respect to the rest of the universe than the nucleus. Doesn't this violate the law of conservation of energy ?

Hello all Here's a question I need some help with: There are two nuclei X and Y [Binding Energy of X = a and Binding Energy of Y = 2a]. Also Binding Energy per nucleon for X = 2b and Binding Energy per nucleon for Y is b. Then which one of the following is true: (A) X is always more...