Question

In a nuclear fusion reaction, two nuclei, A and B, fuse to produce a nucleus C, releasing an amount of energy $\delta E$ in the process. If the mass defects of the three nuclei are $\delta M_A,\delta M_{B}and\delta M_C$ respectively, then which of the following relations holds?

Here, $c$ is the speed of the light.

• A. $\delta M_A+\delta M_B=\delta M_C+\delta E/c^2$
• B. $\delta M_A+2\delta M_B=\delta M_C+\delta E/c^2$
• C. $\delta M_A+\delta M_B=\delta M_C-\delta E/c^2$
• D. $\delta M_A-\delta M_B=\delta M_C+\delta E/c^2$

Answer 1

Answer: (C)