Question

For nuclei with A > 100,
(a) the binding energy of the nucleus decreases on an average as A increases
(b) the binding energy per nucleon decreases on an average as A increases
(c) if the nucleus breaks into two roughly equal parts, energy is released
(d) if two nuclei fuse to form a bigger nucleus, energy is released.

Answer 1

(b) the binding energy per nucleon decreases on an average as A increases
(c) if the nucleus breaks into two roughly equal parts, energy is released

Binding energy per nucleon varies in a way that it depends on the actual value of mass number (A). As the mass number (A) increases, the binding energy also increases and reaches its maximum value of 8.7 MeV for A (50−80) and for A > 100. The binding energy per nucleon decreases as A increases and the nucleus breaks into two or more atoms of roughly equal parts so as to attain stability and binding energy of mass number between 50−80.