The mass of a proton is

PHYSICS · Multi-part · A Level · Physics · Nuclear physics · Nuclear physics

Problem

1.00728\,\text{u}

, the mass of a neutron is

1.00866\,\text{u}

and the measured nuclear mass of the deuteron

(^{2}_{1}\text{H})

2.01355\,\text{u}

. Take

1\,\text{u}=931.5\,\text{MeV}/c^{2}

. (i) Find the mass defect of one deuteron nucleus in atomic mass units. (ii) Calculate the binding energy of the deuteron in MeV. (iii) Determine its binding energy per nucleon.

Related theory

Mass-Energy Equivalence
Nuclear Binding Energy
Mass defect and binding energy
Nuclear physics
Nuclei

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