Assignment No. 4 (Lecture-2.

1 Binding Energy)

1. A certain nuclear reaction gives off 22.1 MeV. Calculate the energy released
in Joules. (5 points)

Solution:

1.6022 x 10-13J = 1MeV.

22.1 Mev x 1.6022 x 10-13J/1 MeV = 3.54 x 10-12 J

2. Suppose that the nuclear mass of 14N is reported as 13.998947 amu.

Calculate the binding energy per nucleon. (15 points)

Solution:
Nitrogen-14 has 7 protons and 7 neutrons. The combined mass of the
subatomic particles is
7 * (proton mass) + 7 * (neutron mass)
7 * (1.00728 amu) + 7 * (1.00866 amu ) = 14.11158 amu
The reported mass of Nitrogen is 13.998947 amu, so the mass defect
(difference) is
14.11158 amu - 13.998947 amu = 0.112633 amu
Using Equation 5
E = ((0.112633g/1mol)(1kg/1000g)(1mol/6.022*1023nuclei)(1nuclei/14nucleon)) x
c2 = 1.24 x 10-12 J/nucleon

3. You have a pebble with a mass of 1.0 gram. If all of the mass was suddenly
turned into energy, how much energy would be released? (5 points)

Solution:
The mass-energy equivalent of 1.0 gram is

E = .001 kg x ( 2.9979x108 m/s )2 = 9.0 x 1013 J.