The nucleons in the nucleus of an atom, like the electrons that circle the nucleus, exist in shells that correspond to energy states. The energy shells of the nucleus are less defined and less understood than those of the electrons. There is a state of lowest energy (the ground state) and discrete possible excited states for a nucleus. Where the discrete energy states for the electrons of an atom are measured in eV or keV, the energy levels of the nucleus are considerably greater and typically measured in MeV.

A nucleus that is in the excited state will not remain at that energy level for an indefinite period. Like the electrons in an excited atom, the nucleons in an excited nucleus will transition towards their lowest energy configuration and in doing so emit a discrete bundle of electromagnetic radiation called a gamma ray (-ray). The only differences between x-rays and -rays are their energy levels and whether they are emitted from the electron shell or from the nucleus.

The ground state and the excited states of a nucleus can be depicted in a nuclear energy-level diagram. The nuclear energy-level diagram consists of a stack of horizontal bars, one bar for each of the excited states of the nucleus. The vertical distance between the bar representing an excited state and the bar representing the ground state is proportional to the energy level of the excited state with respect to the ground state. This difference in energy between the ground state and the excited state is called the excitation energy of the excited state. The ground state of a nuclide has zero excitation energy. The bars for the excited states are labeled with their respective energy levels. Figure 7 is the energy level diagram for nickel-60.

Figure 7            Energy Level Diagram - Nickel-60

Summary

The important information in this chapter is summarized below.

Mass Defect and Binding Energy Summary

Mass defect is the difference between the mass of the atom and the sum of the masses of its constituent parts.

Binding energy is the amount of energy that must be supplied to a nucleus to completely separate its nuclear particles. Binding energy is the energy equivalent of the mass defect.

Mass defect can be calculated by using the equation below.

Binding energy can be calculated by multiplying the mass defect by the factor of 931.5 MeV per amu.

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