Nuclear Binding Energy  The energy required to break down a
nucleus into its component nucleons is called the nuclear
binding energy.  63Cu + Energy -- > 29 p+ + 34 no  Nuclear
binding energies are usually expressed in terms of kJ/mole of
nuclei or MeV's/nucleon.  Calculation of the nuclear binding
energy involves the following three steps:  Determining the Mass
Defect  The difference between the mass of a nucleus and the sum
of the masses of the nucleons of which it is composed is called
the mass defect.  Three things need to be known in order to
calculate the mass defect:  To calculate the mass defect:
Example:  Find the mass defect of a copper-63 nucleus if the
actual mass of a copper-63 nucleus is 62.91367 amu.   Conversion
of Mass Defect into Energy  To convert the mass defect into
energy:  Example:  Determine the binding energy of the copper-63
atom. (0.59223 amu/nucleus)(1.6606 x 10-27 kg/amu) = 9.8346 x
10-28 kg/nucleus E = (9.8346 x 10-28 kg/nucleus)(2.9979 x 108
m/s)2 = 8.8387 x 10-11 J/nucleus   Ex