Question

The sun is powered by nuclear fusion, which involves the conversion of 4 Hydrogen nuclei into 1 Helium nucleus + the release of energy. The rest mass of a Hydrogen nucleus (a proton) is 1.007825 u. The rest mass of a Helium nucleus (alpha-particle) is 4.002603 u. How much energy is released for every conversion of 4H into 1 He?

Answer 1

energy released
`= 4.31 *10^(-12) J`

Step-by-step explanation:

energy released is determined by using following relation

energy released = mass defect * c^2

mass defect is obtained as

mass defect = mass of reactants - mass of products

mass of reactants = 4* mass of helium

mass of products = Mass of alpha particle

therefore mass defect is

mass defect = 4 * 1.007825 - 4.002603

mass defect = 0.028697 u

hence, energy released = mass defect * c^2

energy released
`= 0.02867 * 1.67 *10^(-27) * (3 *10^(8))^(2)`

`1.67 *10^(-27)` is mass of proton

energy released
`= 4.31 *10^(-12) J`