FYS3520 - Problem set 3

Problem 1
a) The mass of 27 Al and 235 U has been measured to be 26.9815 u and
235.0439 u respectively. Use this to estimate the binding energy of the
two.

b) Find the binding energy of the two nuclei using the semi emprical mass
formula. Does it agree with the result in a)?

Problem 2
The emiprical mass formula is (neglecting the odd-even effect)

Z ( Z − 1) ( A − 2Z )2
M( A, Z ) = Z (m p + me ) + ( A − Z )mn − av A + as A2/3 + ac + a sym
A1/3 A
(1)
Where av , as , ac and asym are constants.

1. The masses (AMU) of the mirror nuclei 27 Al and 27 Si are 26.981539

and 26.986704 respectively. Determine the Coulomb’s coefficient in
the semi empirical mass formula.

2. Use (1) to show that for a constant A the Z value that corresponds to
the most stable nucleus is

mn c2 − (m p + me )c2 + ac A−1/3 + 4asym

Zmin =
2ac A−1/3 + 8asym A−1

3. Determine the most stable isobar with mass number A = 72. (Use
av = 15.5 MeV, as = 16.8 MeV, ac = 0.72 MeV and asym = 23 MeV).

1
Problem 3
Find the Q-value of the reaction:
86
Kr + d →87 Kr + p

Rember: d = 2 H.

Problem 4
Explain how the mass of a nucleus can be calculated from the plot in figure
below. Explain briefly some of the main features of the plot and estimate
the mass of 130 Xe.

Figur 1: Average binding energy per nucleon for stable nuclei as a function
of the mass number.

Futher problems:
Problem 7 and 9-13 in Ch. 3 in Introductory Nuclear Physics.