Draw a plot of potential energy of a pair of nucleons as a function of their separation. Write two important conclusions which you can draw regarding the nature of nuclear forces.

For each of the following nuclei, determine the binding energy per nucleon (in MeV). (For all masses, keep six places beyond the decimal point when performing your calculations. Then round your final answer to at least three significant figures.) (a) 2H MeV

(a) Energy is required to separate a nucleus into its constituent nucleons, as the drawing indicates; this energy is the total binding energy of the nucleus. In a similar way one can speak of the energy that binds a single nucleon to the remainder of the nucleus. For example, separating nitrogen 7N¹6 into 7N15 and a neutron takes energy equal to the binding energy of the neutron. Find the energy (in MeV) that binds the neutron to the 7N¹6 nucleus by considering the mass of 7N 15 (atomic mass = 15.000108 u) and the mass of on¹ (atomic mass = 1.008665 u), as compared to the mass of 7N ¹6 (atomic mass = 16.006099 u). (b) Similarly, one can speak of the energy that binds a single proton to the 7N¹6 nucleus. Following the procedure outlined in part (a), determine the energy (in MeV) that binds the proton (atomic mass = 1.007825 u) to the 7N¹6 nucleus. The atomic mass of carbon 6C15 is 15.010599 u. (c) Which nucleon is more tightly bound, the neutron or the proton? (a) Number (b) Number i…

Only two stable nuclei have Z>N. (a) What are these nuclei? (b) Why don't more nuclei have Z> N?