Binding energy from mass defect: If mass defect is 0.03038 amu, what is binding energy in MeV?

Binding energy from mass defect: If mass defect is 0.03038 amu, what is binding energy in MeV?

• A. 0.28 MeV
• B. 283 MeV
• C. 2.83 MeV
• D. 28.3 MeV

Answer: (D)

Binding energy comes from the mass defect using E = Δm c^2. The given mass defect is 0.03038 amu. Using the conversion 1 amu ≈ 931.5 MeV/c^2, the energy is E = 0.03038 × 931.5 MeV ≈ 28.30 MeV. So the binding energy is about 28.3 MeV. This energy represents the amount of energy that would be required to dissociate the nucleus into its individual nucleons (or released when the nucleus forms).

Binding energy comes from the mass defect using E = Δm c^2. The given mass defect is 0.03038 amu. Using the conversion 1 amu ≈ 931.5 MeV/c^2, the energy is E = 0.03038 × 931.5 MeV ≈ 28.30 MeV. So the binding energy is about 28.3 MeV. This energy represents the amount of energy that would be required to dissociate the nucleus into its individual nucleons (or released when the nucleus forms).