nuclear_binding_energy
- plasmapy.particles.nuclear.nuclear_binding_energy( ) Quantity [source]
Return the nuclear binding energy associated with an isotope.
- Parameters:
particle (atom-like) – A Particle object, a string representing an element or isotope, or an integer representing the atomic number of an element.
mass_numb (integer, optional) – The mass number of an isotope, which is required if and only if the first argument can only be used to determine the element and not the isotope.
- Returns:
binding_energy – The binding energy of the nucleus in units of joules.
- Return type:
- Raises:
InvalidParticleError – If the inputs do not correspond to a valid particle.
ParticleError – If the inputs do not correspond to a valid isotope or nucleon.
See also
nuclear_reaction_energy
Return the change in binding energy during nuclear fusion or fission reactions.
mass_energy
Return the mass energy of a nucleon or particle.
Examples
>>> import astropy.units as u >>> nuclear_binding_energy("Fe-56").to(u.MeV) <Quantity 492.25957 MeV> >>> nuclear_binding_energy(26, 56) <Quantity 7.8868678e-11 J> >>> nuclear_binding_energy("p") # proton <Quantity 0. J> >>> import astropy.units as u >>> before = nuclear_binding_energy("D") + nuclear_binding_energy("T") >>> after = nuclear_binding_energy("alpha") >>> (after - before).to(u.MeV) # released energy from D + T --> alpha + n <Quantity 17.589 MeV>