The average binding energy per nucleon

FIGURE 1.12 The average binding energy per nucleon as a function of mass number. 

Example Problem Calculate the average binding energy per nucleon of 58Fe... 

Figure 2.5 Relative contributions of the various terms in the semiempirical mass equation to the average binding energy per nucleon from W. E. Meyerhof, Elements of Nuclear Physics. Copyright 1967 by McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. Reprinted by permission of McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.

Since there are 12 nucleons (protons and neutrons), the average binding energy per nucleon is (92.1 MeV)/12, or 7.68 MeV. 

Figure 3J The change of the average binding energy per nucleon with mass number A. Notice the change in scale after A = 30. (From The Atomic Nucleus by R. D. Evans. Copyright 1972 by McGraw-Hill. Used with the permission of McGraw-Hill Book Company.)...

Figure 24.14 shows the average binding energy per nucleon versus the mass number. Note that the binding energy per nucleon reaches a maximum around a mass number of 60. Elements with a mass number near 60 are the most stable. 

A Figure 21.12 Nuclear binding energies. The average binding energy per nucleon increases initially as the mass number increases and then decreases slowly. Because of these trends, fusion of light nuclei and fission of heavy nuclei are exothermic processes. 

If the mass of the atom is utilized, then p + e = 1.00783 is used instead of the simple proton mass. The specific nuclear binding energy is AEb/A and represents the average binding energy per nucleon. 

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