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Nuclear Physics A Level explaining fission completely (EINSTEIN)
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To do with explaining Binding Energy of the nucleus:~
The mass difference is the difference shown below:
(sum of the FREE protons and neutron masses before they became resident in the nucleus ) MINUS
(the mass of the nucleus when it is bound)
Multiply this by (speed of light) ^2 and you get the Binding Energy in Joules and then you can convert to MeV:
The mass defect is used to BIND the Uranium Nucleus together. Einstein realised that MASS = Energy
For example,
Fissionable Uranium Nucleus has a binding energy of approx 1457 MeV
When you work out the Binding Energy PER NUCLEON it is approx 6.2 MeV
Now ....here is my question
It fissions into two fragments, each of HIGHER Binding Energy per Nucleon.
How do we explain this last step conceptually?
The mass difference is the difference shown below:
(sum of the FREE protons and neutron masses before they became resident in the nucleus ) MINUS
(the mass of the nucleus when it is bound)
Multiply this by (speed of light) ^2 and you get the Binding Energy in Joules and then you can convert to MeV:
The mass defect is used to BIND the Uranium Nucleus together. Einstein realised that MASS = Energy
For example,
Fissionable Uranium Nucleus has a binding energy of approx 1457 MeV
When you work out the Binding Energy PER NUCLEON it is approx 6.2 MeV
Now ....here is my question
It fissions into two fragments, each of HIGHER Binding Energy per Nucleon.
How do we explain this last step conceptually?
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Fission always results in products that are more stable than the original nucleus; the binding energy per nucleon is a measure of stability, where the higher the binding energy is, the more stable the nucleus. As a result, the products have a higher binding energy per nucleon but are significantly lighter, resulting in a mass defect and energy being released.
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