A helium nucleus contains two protons and two neutrons. The mass of the helium nucleus is greater than the combined masses of two protons and two neutrons because binding energy has been added. True False

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Physics

Grant Pineda

11 December, 05:27

A helium nucleus contains two protons and two neutrons. The mass of the helium nucleus is greater than the combined masses of two protons and two neutrons because binding energy has been added. True False

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Rodolfo · Answer 1

False

Explanation:

Actually, the converse is true. The mass number would be lower than the sum of the mass of the individual nucleons combined. According to Einstein's equation of E=MC², this will be due to a phenomenon called mass defect. This 'anomaly' is due to the loss of some energy (now the nuclear binding energy) when the nucleons were brought in together to form the nucleus.