Question

Determine the binding energy per nucleon of an mg-24 nucleus. the mg-24 nucleus has a mass of 24.30506. a proton has a mass of 1.00728 amu, a neutron has a mass of 1.008665 amu, and 1 amu is equivalent to 931 mev of energy.

Answer 1

The mass of Mg-24 is 24.30506 amu, it contains 12 protons and 12 neutrons.

Theoretical mass of Mg-24:

The theoretical mass of Mg-24 is:

Hydrogen atom mass = 12 × 1.00728 amu = 12.0874 amu

Neutron mass = 12 x 1.008665 amu = 12.104 amu

Theoretical mass = Hydrogen atom mass + Neutron mass = 24.1913 amu

Note that the mass defect is:

Mass defect = Actual mass - Theoretical mass : 24.30506 amu- 24.1913 amu= 0.11376 amu

Calculating the binding energy per nucleon:

$\frac{B.E.}{nucleon}=\frac{(0.11376amu)(931Mev/amu}{24nucleons} = 4.41294 Mev/nucleon$

So approximately 4.41294 Mev/necleon