Given below are two statements:
Statement I : For all elements, greater the mass of the nucleus, greater is the binding energy per nucleon.
Statement II : For all elements, nuclei with less binding energy per nucleon transforms to nuclei with greater binding energy per nucleon.
In the light of the above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below:

Question

Given below are two statements:

Statement I : For all elements, greater the mass of the nucleus, greater is the binding energy per nucleon.

Statement II : For all elements, nuclei with less binding energy per nucleon transforms to nuclei with greater binding energy per nucleon.

In the light of the above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below:

G1 Physics · Accepted Answer

Statement I is false. Binding energy per nucleon does not increase continuously with nuclear mass. It increases for light nuclei, reaches a maximum around the iron-nickel region and then slowly decreases for heavier nuclei. Statement II is true in the energetic sense relevant to spontaneous or energy-releasing nuclear transformations. Nuclei tend to move toward configurations with greater binding energy per nucleon because such configurations have lower total energy per nucleon. Therefore, Stat…