IB skill practice

Analyse nuclear fission energy release

Paper 1, Paper 2 5 marks Difficulty 3

Mass defect energy

A nuclear process in a radioisotope decay log has mass defect \(0.19\,\text{u}\). Use \(1\,\text{u}=931.5\,\text{MeV}\). Calculate released or binding energy. Enter the numerical result and choose the interpretation that matches the quantum or nuclear physics.

Worked practice: physics data and result

Read the physical quantities first, then calculate the result and state what it means.