Types of Binding Energy
– Gravitational binding energy: energy required to expand an object to infinity
– Bond energy and bond-dissociation energy: measures of binding energy between atoms in a chemical bond
– Electron binding energy or ionization energy: energy required to free an electron from its atomic orbital
– Atomic binding energy: energy required to disassemble an atom into free electrons and a nucleus
– Nuclear binding energy: energy required to disassemble a nucleus into free neutrons and protons
– Quantum chromodynamics binding energy: mass and kinetic energy that bind quarks inside a hadron
Examples of Binding Energy
– Gravitational binding energy of Earth-like body made of hydrogen-1 is about 0.391658eV per atom
– Gravitational binding energy of Sun-like hydrogen-1 body is about 1,195.586eV per atom
– Bond-dissociation energy of carbon-carbon bond is about 3.6eV
– Range of ionization energies among chemical elements is from 3.8939eV for caesium to 11.567617keV for copper
– Atomic binding energy of helium atom is 79.005eV
– Average nuclear binding energy per nucleon ranges from 2.22452MeV for hydrogen-2 to 8.7945MeV for nickel-62
Mass-Energy Relation
– Bound systems have lower energy levels than unbound constituents due to mass decrease
– Missing mass after binding may be converted into energy in the form of heat or light
– Kinetic energy gained during attraction must be dissipated for particles to bind
– Exothermic chemical reactions in closed systems become less massive once heat of reaction is removed
– Nuclear reactions can result in a larger fraction of mass being removed as binding energy
Energy Released in Nuclear Reactions
– Electromagnetic waves, such as gamma radiation
– Kinetic energy of ejected particles, like electrons in internal conversion decay
– Rest mass of emitted particles, such as beta decay particles
– Energy is released as binding energy is removed
– Binding energy represents the forces holding nucleons together
Energy in Nuclear Fusion and Fission
– Energy released in fusion or fission is the difference in binding energies
– It can also be calculated from mass differences between fuel and products
– Previous measurements of atomic masses are used in calculations
– Evolved heat and radiation must be removed to measure rest masses accurately
– Energy released in fusion or fission is a result of mass conversion Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binding_energy
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In physics and chemistry, binding energy is the smallest amount of energy required to remove a particle from a system of particles or to disassemble a system of particles into individual parts. In the former meaning the term is predominantly used in condensed matter physics, atomic physics, and chemistry, whereas in nuclear physics the term separation energy is used.
Binding also can refer to two particles connecting together, such as phagocytosis and pathogen binding (connecting) together so that the phagocytosis destroys the pathogen.
A bound system is typically at a lower energy level than its unbound constituents. According to relativity theory, a ΔE decrease in the total energy of a system is accompanied by a decrease Δm in the total mass, where Δmc2 = ΔE.
