Physics

Problem

For the nucleus

^{56}\mathrm{Fe}

, the following data are given: • Mass of one proton

=1.00728\,\text{u}

• Mass of one neutron

=1.00866\,\text{u}

• Mass of the neutral

^{56}\mathrm{Fe}

atom

=55.93494\,\text{u}

(neglect the mass of electrons for this calculation) Take

1\,\text{u}=931\,\text{MeV}/c^{2}

. (i) Find the mass defect of the

^{56}\mathrm{Fe}

nucleus in atomic mass units. (ii) Calculate the binding energy per nucleon for

^{56}\mathrm{Fe}

, in

\text{MeV}.

a. (i) Mass defect in u b. (ii) Binding energy per nucleon in MeV