Nuclear Binding Energy: For The "Special" AP Physics Students Montwood High School R. Casao

Nuclear Binding Energy
For the “Special” AP

Physics Students
Montwood High
School
R. Casao
• Energy must be added
to a nucleus to
separate it into its
individual nucleons
(protons and neutrons).
• The energy that must
be added to separate
the nucleons is called
the binding energy EB.
• The binding energy is
the energy by which
the nucleons are bound
together.
Einstein and Energy
• Einstein determined that matter could be thought
of as a form of energy and that there would be a
quantity called "rest energy" which would be the
amount of energy that composed a piece of
matter.
• This rest energy can be determined by E = m·c2,
where m is the mass at rest.
• Einstein’s equation not only says that mass and
energy are equivalent to each other with the
speed of light as a conversion factor, but that
energy and mass are interchangeable between
each other. In other words, mass is a form of
energy.
Mass Defect
• The total mass of the nucleons (the
individual protons and neutrons) is always
greater than the mass of the nucleus by an
amount E
calledBthe mass defect.
2
c
• The mass defect is the mass of the individual
nucleons minus the mass of the nucleus.
• The mass defect represents the mass that is
converted to binding energy.
• The nuclear binding energy for a
nucleus containing Z protons and N
neutrons is: A 2
E B  (Z  M H  N  m n  Z M)  c
A
ZM
where is the mass of the neutral
atom containing the nucleus, the
quantity in the parenthesis is the mass
931
defect,
2 .5 MeV
and
c 
u
• Note that the equation does not
include Z·mp, the mass of Z protons.
• The equation contains Z·MH, the mass
of Z protons and Z electrons
1 combined as a neutral H atom to
1
A balance the Z electrons included in

Z
M, the mass of the neutral atom.
• The Table of Atomic Nuclides contains
the atomic masses of nucleons and
atoms in atomic mass units, u.
• Nuclear masses are measured in
terms of atomic mass units with the
carbon-12 nucleus defined as having
a mass of exactly 12 u.
• Conversion to u: 27
1 u  1.66054 x 10 kg  931.5 MeV
• 1 eV = 1.602 x 10-19 J
• It is also common practice to quote
the rest mass energy Eo=mo·c2 as if it
were the mass.
Binding Energy of a
Deuteron
• The simplest nucleus is hydrogen, a
single proton.
2
• Next comes the nucleus 1of H,
called deuterium. It’s nucleus
consists of a proton and a neutron
bound together to form a particle
called a deuteron.
• The binding energy of the deuteron: MeV
E B  (1.007825 u  1.008665 u  2.014102 u)  931.5
u
Binding Energy of a
Deuteron
• EB = 2.224 MeV
• This is the amount of energy that
would be needed to pull the deuteron
apart into a proton and a neutron.
• An important measure of how tightly
a nucleus is bound together is the
binding energy perEnucleon:
B
A
Binding Energy of a
Deuteron
• A is the mass number.
• Binding energy per nucleon:
2.224 MeV
 1.112 MeV / nucleon
2 nucleons
2
• H has the smallest binding energy
1
per nucleon of all nuclides.
• The higher the binding energy/nucleon,
the more stable the nucleus.
Binding Energy Comparison
• The enormity of the nuclear binding energy
can be better appreciated by comparing it to
the binding energy of an electron in an atom.
• The comparison of the alpha particle binding
energy with the binding energy of the
electron in a hydrogen atom is shown on the
next slide.
• The nuclear binding energies are on the
order of a million times greater than the
electron binding energies of atoms.
Binding Energy Comparison
Binding Energy/Nucleon
• Most stable nuclides, from the lightest to
the most massive, have binding energies
in the range of 7 to 9 MeV/nucleon.
• A graph of binding energy per nucleon as
a function of mass number A shows a
spike at A = 4, showing the unusually
large binding energy per nucleon of the
4
He nucleus (alpha particle).
2
• The fact that there is a peak in the
binding energy curve in the region of
stability near iron means that either
the breakup of heavier nuclei
(fission) or the combining of lighter
nuclei (fusion) will yield nuclei which
are more tightly bound (less mass
per nucleon).
The Strong Nuclear Force
• The force that binds the protons and
neutrons together in the nucleus, despite
the electrical repulsion of the protons, is
an example of the strong nuclear force.
• Characteristics:
– Does not depend on charge; neutrons and
protons are bound and the binding is the
same for both.
– Short range; about 10-15 m. Within this
range, the nuclear strong force is greater
than the electrical force of repulsion.
– Physicists still do not fully understand the
dependence of the strong nuclear force on
the separation r.
– The nearly constant density of nuclear
matter and the nearly constant binding
energy per nucleon of larger nuclides show
that a particular nucleon cannot interact
simultaneously with all the other nucleons
in a nucleus, but only with those directly
around it.
– This is different from the electrical force;
every proton in the nucleus repels every
other proton in the nucleus.
– The nuclear strong force favors binding
of pairs of protons or neutrons with
opposite spins and of pairs of pairs (a
pair of protons and a pair of neutrons,
each having opposite spins). This is why
the alpha particle (two protons and two
neutrons) is a stable nucleus.
Equations
2
• Mass-Energy Relationship: E  Δm  c
E = energy, m = mass converted to
energy or energy converted to mass, c =
3number
x 10of8 protons
m/s x amu proton

• Mass defect:   number of neutrons x amu neutron
 mass of individual nucleons
 mass of nucleus
 mass defect
amu proton = 1.007276 amu

amu neutron = 1.008665 amu
Equations
• Nuclear Binding Energy:
931.5 MeV 1.602 x 10 13
EB  mass defect (u)  
u MeV

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Nuclear Binding Energy

For the “Special” AP

A balance the Z electrons included in

amu proton = 1.007276 amu

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