Question

The most common isotope of copper is copper-63 with a measured mass of 62.929601u.

1. Determine the mass defect;
2. Determine the binding energy;
3. Determine the binding energy per nucleon.

Answer 1

1.

m(proton) = 1.007276 u

m(neutron) = 1.008665 u

Cu-63 has 29 protons and 34 neutrons.

m(defect) = -(62.929601 - 1.007276$\times$29 - 1.008665$\times$34) = 0.576013 u

2.

0.576013 u = 1.66054$\times$10^-27 kg

E(per atom) = mc² = 1.66054$\times$10^-27 $\times$ 299,792,458² = 1.492419$\times$10^-10 J

3.

E(per nuclon) = $\frac{1.492419\times10^{-10} J }{63} = 2.368919\times 10^{-12} J$