WHAT IS BINDING ENERGY OF NUCLEUS?

The binding energy that holds nuclei together “shows up” as “missing” mass.

Deuterium is an isotope of hydrogen which contains a neutron, a proton, and an “orbiting” electron.

mass of hydrogen             1.0078 u

mass of neutron                1.0087 u

sum                                   2.0165 u

mass of deuterium            2.0141 u

difference                         0.0024 u

Since 1 u of mass has an energy equivalent of 931 MeV, the missing mass is equal to 931x0.0024 MeV = 2.2 MeV.

The fact that this mass deficit is the binding energy is demonstrated by experiments which show that it takes 2.2 MeV of energy to split a deuterium into a neutron and a proton.

Nuclear binding energies range from 2.2 MeV for deuterium to 1640 MeV for bismuth-209.

These binding energies are enormous; millions of times greater than even the energies given off in highly energetic chemical reactions.

We usually talk in terms of binding energy per nucleon, which is 2.2/2=1.1 MeV per nucleon for deuterium, or 1640/209=7.8 MeV per nucleon for bismuth-209.

The figure below shows a plot of binding energy per nucleon as a function of mass number.