Nuclear binding energy — UPSC Physics Optional IFoS 2020 Paper II

(i) Plot mass number A versus binding energy per nucleon. How does this curve help to explain the nuclear fission and fusion ? (ii) In their old age, heavy stars obtain part of their energy by the following nuclear reaction {^{4}_{2}\text{He}} + {^{12}_{6}\text{C}} = {^{16}_{8}\text{O}}. How much energy does each such event give off ? [\text{Given : } {^{4}_{2}\text{He}} = 4\cdot 002603\text{ u}, {^{12}_{6}\text{C}} = 12\cdot 000000\text{ u}, {^{16}_{8}\text{O}} = 15\cdot 999\text{ u}]