Question

Six protons and six neutrons are brought together to form a carbon nucleus, but the mass of the carbon nucleus is less than the sum of the masses of the individual particles due to the mass defect, This deducted mass has been

• A. converted into the binding energy of the nucleus.
• B. given of in a radioactive decay process.
• C. converted into electrons.
• D. converted into energy to hold the electrons in orbit
• E. emitted as light.

Answer 1

The correct option is A converted into the binding energy of the nucleus.

Nuclear binding energy accounts for a noticeable difference between the actual mass of an atom's nucleus and its expected mass based on the sum of the masses of its non-bound components. The release in energy accounts for the stability of the bound atom.
Quantitatively, mass defect=$\Delta M=M_{protons}+M_{neutrons}-M_{atom}$