Nucleus particle separation energy

The work necessary to separate a neutron, proton, or a particle from a nucleus is called the (neutron, proton, or a particle) separation energy S. For a neutron... 

The heart of the nuclear reactor boiler plant system is the reactor core, in which the nuclear fission process takes place. Nuclear fission is the splitting of a nucleus into two or more separate nuclei. Fission is usually by neutron particle bombardment and is accompanied by the release of a very large amount of energy, plus additional neutrons, other particles, and radioactive material. The generation of new neutrons during fission makes possible a chain reaction process and the subsequent... 

As we have already indicated, charged particles must be accelerated to kinetic energies on the order of millions of electron volts (MeV) in order to overcome the Coulomb repulsion of another nucleus and induce a nuclear reaction. The Coulomb potential grows with the inverse of the separation between the two ions ... 

The answer is that a helium atom is lighter than the sum of two protons, two neutrons, and two electrons. Some of the mass of the separated particles is converted into energy and dissipates when the nucleus is formed. Before the helium nucleus can be torn apart into its component particles, this dissipated energy must be restored and turned back into mass. Unless this energy is provided, the nucleus cannot be taken apart. This energy is termed the binding energy of the helium nucleus. 

The packing effect is a small deviation of the nuclear weight from the sum of the weights of the component protons and neutrons. This packing effect is directly connected with the difference in energy between the nucleus and the separate particles according to the well-known Einstein relation AE — A m c2 these deviations are, however, smaller than 0.001 M.U. for the majority of nuclei. 

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