The rest mass of a proton is

PHYSICS · Subjective · A Level · Physics · Nuclear physics · Nuclear physics

Problem

1.00728\,\text{u}

, that of a neutron is

1.00866\,\text{u}

, and the measured mass of the

^{4}\!\text{He}

nucleus is

4.00260\,\text{u}

. (

1\,\text{u}=931\,\text{MeV}

.) (a) Determine the mass defect of the

^{4}\!\text{He}

nucleus. (b) Calculate the total binding energy of the nucleus. (c) Find the binding energy per nucleon for

^{4}\!\text{He}

and comment on its significance in comparison with average nuclear binding energies.