Plot how tightly bound a nucleus is, the binding energy shared per nucleon, against the number of nucleons. The curve climbs steeply for light nuclei, peaks near iron (the most stable nuclei), then falls slowly. Moving toward the peak releases energy: that is why light nuclei fuse and heavy nuclei split.
MissionSlide the marker to the iron peak near A = 56, the most tightly bound, most stable region.Streak 0Best 0
Both nuclear fusion and nuclear fission can release energy because they:
nucleon number A56
binding energy per nucleon8.79 MeV
total binding energy492 MeV
regionpeak (most stable)
A nucleus near the peak is the most stable. Light nuclei climb the curve by fusing; heavy nuclei climb it by splitting.