Practice portal › Nuclei › Mass-Energy and Binding Energy
Asked in GSEB Board July 2021 · Binding energy curve and nuclear force
Idea: the binding-energy-per-nucleon curve rises for light nuclei, peaks, and then falls. The peak marks the most tightly bound nucleus there is.
That maximum, E_bn≈8.75 MeV per nucleon, sits at A=56 — iron, ⁵⁶₂₆Fe.
Either side of it energy can be released by moving towards it: light nuclei by fusing, heavy nuclei by splitting. Iron itself gives nothing.
So the corresponding mass number is 56.
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