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Asked in CBSE AIPMT 2001 · Energy released in fission and fusion
Fission takes a heavy nucleus from beyond the peak of the binding-energy curve and splits it into middle-weight fragments.
Those fragments have a higher binding energy per nucleon, so their total binding energy exceeds the parent's.
That surplus binding energy is what emerges as the energy released.
Seen the other way, the products are lighter than the parent, and the mass defect supplies the same energy through E=Δ mc².
So energy is released because the total binding energy of the products is more than that of the parent.
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