H2 Physics 20 - Nuclear Physics: Binding Energy and Mass Defect

What you will learn

• Helium-4 nucleus mass 4.001506 u; goal is mass defect, binding energy, and binding energy per nucleon.
• Mass of separate nucleons = 2 m_p + 2 m_n = 2(1.007276) + 2(1.008665) = 4.031882 u.
• Mass defect delta m = 4.031882 minus 4.001506 = 0.030376 u; binding energy = delta m x 931.5 MeV / u which is about 28.3 MeV.