0Explain ‘mass defect’ and ‘binding energy’. How are they related?
The difference between the calculated mass of the unbound system and the experimentally measured mass of the nucleus is the mass defect.
Nuclear binding energy is used to determine whether fission or fusion will be a favourable process. The mass defect of a nucleus represents the mass of the energy binding the nucleus and is the difference between the mass of a nucleus and the sum of the masses of the nucleons of which it is composed.
Mass defect of a nucleus is the sum of the individual masses of the separated nucleons minus the mass of the intact nucleus. The binding energy of a nucleus is the energy required to separate it into its constituent protons and neutrons.
