Nuclear binding energy is the energy required to split an atom’s nucleus into protons and neutrons. Mass defect is the difference between the predicted mass and the actual mass of an atom’s nucleus.

How does mass defect relate to binding energy?

Nuclear binding energy is the energy required to split a nucleus of an atom into its components. … The mass defect of a nucleus represents the mass of the energy binding the nucleus, and is the difference between the mass of a nucleus and the sum of the masses of the nucleons of which it is composed.

What is binding energy equivalent to?

It is the energy equivalent of the mass defect, the difference between the mass number of a nucleus and its measured mass. Nuclear binding energy derives from the nuclear force or residual strong force, which is mediated by three types of mesons.