Mass Defect & Binding Energy

Similarly, the missing mass was converted into energy (E=mc2) and emitted when the carbon-12 atom was made from the six protons and six neutrons:

?m = 6*mproton + 6*mneutron - mC-12 =

6(1.00782 amu) + 6(1.008665 amu) - 12.00000 amu

= .099 amu; BE = ?m*c2 =

(0.099 amu)*(1.66x10-27kg/amu)*(3x108m/s)2

= 1.478x10-11J*(1 eV/1.6x10-19J) = 92.37 MeV

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