a student writes the following statements about the relationship between mass defect and nuclear binding…

a student writes the following statements about the relationship between mass defect and nuclear binding energy.\n1. when an isotopes protons and neutrons come together to form a nuclide, a small amount of mass is converted to energy.\n2. an equivalent amount of energy must be added to the nuclide to split apart its protons and neutrons.\n3. statement 1 describes the isotopes nuclear binding energy, and statement 2 describes the isotopes mass defect.\nwhich statement is correct?\no 1 only\no 2 only\no 1 and 2 only\no 1, 2, and 3

a student writes the following statements about the relationship between mass defect and nuclear binding energy.\n1. when an isotopes protons and neutrons come together to form a nuclide, a small amount of mass is converted to energy.\n2. an equivalent amount of energy must be added to the nuclide to split apart its protons and neutrons.\n3. statement 1 describes the isotopes nuclear binding energy, and statement 2 describes the isotopes mass defect.\nwhich statement is correct?\no 1 only\no 2 only\no 1 and 2 only\no 1, 2, and 3

Answer

Brief Explanations:

  1. According to Einstein's mass - energy equivalence ($E = mc^{2}$), when protons and neutrons combine to form a nuclide, mass is converted to energy, which is the binding energy of the nucleus. This makes statement 1 correct.
  2. The energy required to break apart the nucleus into its individual protons and neutrons is equal to the binding energy of the nucleus. So, an equivalent amount of energy must be added to split the nuclide, making statement 2 correct.
  3. Statement 1 describes mass - defect (the mass lost in the formation of the nucleus which is converted to energy), and statement 2 describes nuclear binding energy (the energy required to separate the nucleons), so statement 3 is incorrect.

Answer:

C. 1 and 2 only