How do you determine the binding energy of lithium-6?

m_p = "1.00728 amu"mp=1.00728 amu
m_n = "1.00867 amu"mn=1.00867 amu
m_e = "0.000549 amu"me=0.000549 amu

2 Answers
Jul 10, 2017

I got "32.03 MeV/atom"32.03 MeV/atom.

And just to check, this graph shows the binding energy of ""_(3)^(6) "Li"63Li in "MeV/nucleon"MeV/nucleon.

![https://figures.boundless-cdn.com/](useruploads.socratic.org)

If we wanted, we could get

"32.03 MeV"/"atom" xx "1 Li-6 atom"/"6 nucleons"32.03 MeVatom×1 Li-6 atom6 nucleons

== "5.338 MeV/nucleon"5.338 MeV/nucleon

which is fairly close to the 5.35.3 or so "MeV/nucleon"MeV/nucleon on the graph.


The binding energy is the energy that is needed to hold the nucleus together, and accounts for the small mass defect found in certain nuclides.

If we find the mass defect, i.e. how much less mass the nuclide has compared to the expected mass of the protons + neutrons, then it turns out that mass incorporated into E = mc^2E=mc2 gives the binding energy.

CALCULATING MASS DEFECT

The mass defect is given by

M_d = (m_p + m_n) - (m_"exact" - m_e)Md=(mp+mn)(mexactme),

where:

  • M_dMd is the mass defect in "amu"amu.
  • m_pmp is the rest mass of a proton in "amu"amu.
  • m_nmn is the rest mass of a neutron in "amu"amu.
  • m_"exact"mexact is the exact nuclide mass in "amu"amu (including the electron(s)).
  • m_eme is the rest mass of an electron in "amu"amu.

Now, by recalling that the number of neutrons + protons is given by the mass number, and the number of protons by the atomic number, we have that m_n = A - Zmn=AZ, and:

M_d = [overbrace(3)^(Z) xx overbrace("1.00728 amu")^"Mass of one proton" + (overbrace(6)^(A) - overbrace(3)^(Z)) xx overbrace("1.00867 amu")^"Mass of one neutron"] - ("6.01512 amu" - 3 xx overbrace("0.000549 amu")^"Mass of one electron")

= "0.03438 amu"

Now, what we'll need to do to get this to work with the Einstein relationship is to convert the mass to "kg", since a "J" is a "kg"cdot"m"^2"/s"^2, and there are about 1.602 xx 10^(-19) "J/eV".

I don't really remember how many "g/amu" there are, but I do remember that if we represent Avogadro's number as N_A, then with N_A = 6.0221413 xx 10^(23) "mol"^(-1), we have that1/N_A = "number of g/amu".

So, we have the per-atom mass defect as:

M_d -= m = 0.03438 cancel"amu" xx (1/(6.0221413 xx 10^(23)) cancel"g" xx "1 kg"/(1000 cancel"g"))/cancel"amu"

= 5.708 xx 10^(-29) "kg/atom"

CALCULATING BINDING ENERGY FROM MASS DEFECT

And so, the binding energy is given by:

E = mc^2

= 5.708 xx 10^(-29) "kg"/"atom" xx (2.998 xx 10^(8) "m/s")^2

= 5.131 xx 10^(-12) "J/atom"

And finally, in "MeV/atom", just like "megabytes", there are one million "eV" in one "MeV". So, we would then have:

color(blue)(E) = (5.131 xx 10^(-12) cancel"J")/"atom" xx (cancel"1 eV")/(1.602 xx 10^(-19) cancel"J") xx "1 MeV"/(10^6 cancel"eV")

= color(blue)("32.03 MeV/atom")

Jul 10, 2017

Li-6
MeV/atom 32.10681189
MeV/nucleon 5.348469965

Explanation:

Binding Energy of Li-6
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