Answer the following questions about nuclear stability:

CHEMISTRY · Multi-part · US High School · Chemistry · Atomic Structure & Nuclear · Atomic Structure & Nuclear

Problem

Answer the following questions about nuclear stability: (i) Describe qualitatively how the binding energy per nucleon varies with mass number from hydrogen (A = 1) to uranium (A ≈ 240). (ii) The binding energy per nucleon values for three nuclei are:

^{4}\!\mathrm{He}

7.1\,\text{MeV}

^{56}\!\mathrm{Fe}

8.8\,\text{MeV}

^{235}\!\mathrm{U}

7.6\,\text{MeV}

. Arrange these nuclei in the increasing order of nuclear stability and justify your answer. (iii) Which of the above nuclei, if any, would be expected to release energy (a) on fission, (b) on fusion? Give reasons in each case.

Related theory

Atomic Structure

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