Question

The binding energy of the deuteron is of order –

• A. 10⁶Ev
• B. 10⁸eV
• C. 10¹⁰eV
• D. None of these

Answer 1

Answer: (A)

10⁶Ev

Answer 2

The uncertainty principle gives 2pr ~ $\hslash$, where p is the momentum of each nucleon and r is their separation, or

p ~$\frac{\hslash}{2r}$.

The binding energy is then

$\frac{p^{2}}{2m}$~$\frac{\hslash^{2}c^{2}}{8r^{2}mc^{2}}$=$\frac{(6.6 \times 10^{- 16} \times 3 \times 10^{10})^{2}}{8 \times (1.4 \times 10^{- 13})^{2} \times 940 \times 10^{6}}$

= 2.7 × 10⁶ eV.