nuclear_binding_energy

plasmapy.particles.nuclear.nuclear_binding_energy(particle: Particle, mass_numb: Integral | None = None) → 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:

Quantity

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>