Calculate the mass defect in Ni-59 if the mass of a Ni-59 nucleus is 58.69344 amu.The mass of a proton is 1.00728 amu and the mass of a neutron is 1.008665 amu.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

First, we need to calculate the total mass of Ni-59 nucleus:

total mass = number of protons x mass of a proton + number of neutrons x mass of a neutron
total mass = 28 x 1.00728 amu + 31 x 1.008665 amu
total mass = 28.18064 amu + 31.26822 amu
total mass = 59.44886 amu

The mass defect is the difference between the total mass and the mass of the Ni-59 nucleus:

mass defect = 59.44886 amu - 58.69344 amu
mass defect = 0.75542 amu

Therefore, the best choice is B) 0.779 amu, which is the closest value to the calculated mass defect.

Calculate the Mass Defect in Ni-59 If the Mass of a Ni-59