Binding Energy

Problems

practice

  1. Write something.
  2. Write something.
  3. Write something.
  4. Write something.

conceptual

  1. The fuel used in most high-yield thermonuclear weapons is solid lithium 6 deuteride. These weapons, commonly known as "hydrogen bombs" or "H-bombs", use the energy released when a nucleus of light lithium (63Li, mLi = 6.015121 u) and heavy hydrogen (21D, mD = 2.0140 u) fuse to form two nuclei of ordinary helium (42He, mHe = 4.00260 u).
    1. Write this reaction out in symbolic form. (Remember, this is a nuclear reaction, not a chemical reaction.)
    2. What is the mass defect when one molecule of lithium 6 deuteride is transformed into two atoms of helium? State your answer in …
      1. atomic mass units
      2. megaelectronvolts
      3. kilograms

numerical

  1. A standard measure of explosive energy is the ton of TNT. By definition, one ton of TNT possesses 4.184 GJ of chemical energy.
    1. The "Little Boy" uranium fission bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on 6 August 1945 had an explosive yield of 12.5 kilotons of TNT. How much mass was transformed into energy by this weapon?
    2. The nuclear weapon with the greatest yield was the 50 megaton, two-stage fusion "Tsar Bomba" detonated over Novaya Zemlya, Russia on 30 October 1961. How much mass was transformed into energy by this weapon?
    3. The luminosity of the sun is 3.827 × 1026 watts. How much mass is destroyed in the sun every second?

algebraic

  1. A photon has just enough energy to form an electron–positron pair.
    1. What is the energy of this photon?
    2. What is its frequency?
    3. What is its wavelength?
    4. What type of electromagnetic radiation is this?

worksheets

  1. binding-energy.pdf
    Calculate the binding energy (in MeV) liberated in each of the following nuclear reactions.

calculus

  1. A proton and an antiproton with very little kinetic energy come in contact with one another, annihilate, and produce two photons.
    1. What is the energy of each photon?
    2. What is the frequency of each photon?
    3. What is the wavelength of each photon?
    4. What type of electromagnetic radiation are these photons?

The Physics Hypertextbook

  • No condition is permanent.