The energy liberated in the fission of heavy nuclei is usually interpreted with the help of the binding–energy per nucleon curve.
(i) Define binding energy per nucleon.
(ii) The average binding energy per nucleon of 235U is 7.6MeV, whereas that of the two medium–mass fission fragments may be taken as 8.5MeV. Explain qualitatively, without detailed calculation, why this difference leads to the release of a large amount of energy when one 235U nucleus splits into two nearly equal fragments.
(iii) Using the above data, estimate the total energy (in MeV) that becomes available when one nucleus of 235U undergoes fission into two nuclei, each of mass number 118 (ignore the emitted neutrons for this estimate).