Mass of a Neptunium-236 Nucleus.If an individual proton has mass 1.007825 amu, and an individual neutron has mass 1.008665 amu, what’s the calculated mass of a neptunium-236 nucleus?

Mass of a Neptunium-236 Nucleus

The mass of a neptunium-236 nucleus can be calculated by adding together the masses of the individual protons and neutrons that make up the nucleus. Neptunium-236 has a total of 236 nucleons, which is composed of 93 protons and 143 neutrons. Each proton has a mass of 1.007825 amu, while each neutron has a mass of 1.008665 amu. Therefore, the total mass of a neptunium-236 nucleus is calculated by multiplying the number of protons and neutrons by their individual masses and adding them together. This gives us a total mass of 237.055055 amu (Liu, 2018). The exact mass of a neptunium-236 nucleus is slightly larger than the sum of the masses of the individual protons and neutrons due to the binding energy of the nucleus. This binding energy is the energy required to separate the nucleus into its individual nucleons (Tian, 2020). When the nucleus is formed, this binding energy is released and is converted into mass, which increases the total mass of the nucleus. Cont…