Physics

Problem

In a simple model, suppose every nucleon forms attractive strong-force links with exactly six nearest neighbours, each link contributing

1.5\,\text{MeV}

of binding energy. Taking care to count each pair interaction only once, the binding energy per nucleon predicted by this model is a)

9.0\,\text{MeV}

1.5\,\text{MeV}

4.5\,\text{MeV}

3.0\,\text{MeV}