Question

Define binding energy per nucleon and packing fraction

Answer 1

Nuclear binding energy

Nuclear binding energy is the minimum energy that would be required to disassemble the nucleus of an atom into its component parts. These component parts are neutrons and protons, which are collectively called nucleons. The binding is always a positive number, as we need to spend energy in moving these nucleons, attracted to each other by the strong nuclear force, away from each other. The mass of an atomic nucleus is less than the sum of the individual masses of the free constituent protons and neutrons, according to Einstein's equation E=mc². This 'missing mass' is known as the mass defect, and represents the energy that was released when the nucleus was formed.