Question

Percentage mass defect

Answer 1

The concept of mass defect is fundamental in nuclear physics and pertains to the difference between the mass of a nucleus and the sum of the masses of its individual nucleons (protons and neutrons). This mass difference is converted into energy, which is the binding energy of the nucleus — essentially the energy required to disassemble a nucleus into its constituent protons and neutrons. The mass defect (Δm) can be calculated using the equation:
$[ Delta m = \text{(sum of masses of individual nucleons)} - \text{(actual mass of the nucleus)} ]$
Once you have the mass defect, you can convert it into energy (E) using Einstein's mass-energy equivalence relation:
$[ E = \Delta m \times c^2 ]$
where $( c )$ is the speed of light.
To find the percentage mass defect, use:
$[ \text{Percentage Mass Defect} = \left( \frac{\text{Mass Defect}}{\text{Total Mass of Individual Nucleons}} \right) \times 100\% ]$