Question

If $M_{O}$ is the mass of an oxygen isotope $ \, _{8}O^{17}, \, M_{p} \, and \, M_{n}$ are the masses of a proton and a neutron, respectively, the nuclear binding energy of the isotope is

• A. $M_{O}c^{2}$
• B. $\left(M_{O} - 17 M_{n}\right) \, c^{2}$
• C. $\left(M_{O} - 8 M_{p}\right) \, c^{2}$
• D. $\left(\right. 8 M_{p} + 9 M_{n} - M_{O} \left.\right)c^{2}$

Answer 1

Answer: (D)

The binding energy is given as
$BE=\Delta mc^{2}$ , where $\Delta m=$ mass defect, and $c=$ speed of light.
$\Rightarrow \, BE=\left(8 \, M_{p} + 9 M_{n} - M_{O}\right)c^{2}$