Nuclear reactions

Understandings:

• The unified atomic mass unit
• Mass defect and nuclear binding energy
• Nuclear fission and nuclear fusion

Applications and skills:

• Solving problems involving mass defect and binding energy
• Solving problems involving the energy released in radioactive decay, nuclear fission and nuclear fusion
• Sketching and interpreting the general shape of the curve of average binding energy per nucleon against nucleon number

Guidance:

• Students must be able to calculate changes in terms of mass or binding energy
• Binding energy may be defined in terms of energy required to completely separate the nucleons or the energy released when a nucleus is formed from its nucleons