Physics Help Forum Calculate the mass deficit in this nuclear reaction

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 May 13th 2019, 01:16 PM #1 Junior Member   Join Date: May 2019 Posts: 3 Calculate the mass deficit in this nuclear reaction Calculate the mass deficit in this nuclear reaction $12{\rm C}+\frac{12}{6}{\rm C}\rightarrow \frac{24}{12}{\rm Mg}$ Information given: - rest mass of a carbon-12 nucleus: $1.9921157\times 10^{-26}\,{\rm kg}$ - rest mass of a magnesium nucleus: $3.9817469\times 10^{-26}\,{\rm kg}$ - rest mass of a proton: $1.67353\times 10^{-27}\,{\rm kg}$ - rest mass of a neutron: $1.67492\times 10^{-27}\,{\rm kg}$ - speed of light: $3.00\times 10^{8}\,{\rm m}\,{\rm s}^{-1}$ My attempts so far haven't been great I'm thinking along the line of using a formula but even then I don't know what variables to plug in where. thanks Last edited by subarua; May 13th 2019 at 01:23 PM.
 May 29th 2019, 08:13 AM #2 Senior Member   Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: Glasgow Posts: 395 $\displaystyle \Delta m = 3.9817469\times 10^{-26} - 2 (1.9921157\times 10^{-26}) = - 0.0024845 \times 10^{-26} = -2.4845 \times 10^{-29} kg = -13.937 MeV/c^2$ Last edited by benit13; May 29th 2019 at 08:15 AM.
 May 29th 2019, 04:15 PM #3 Senior Member     Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: England Posts: 933 Is this a correct interpretation? I am unfamiliar with the notation used by subarua. However I guess that 12/6 against the Carbon indicates Carbon 12 with 6 protons (thus also 6 neutrons) and similarly 24/12 indicates Magnetism 24 with 12 protons (and 12 neutrons) Or perhaps the notation indicates Carbon 12 with 6 neutrons... Either way this would then suggest that the original equation provided should have both carbons preceded by 12/6. topsquark likes this. __________________ ~\o/~
May 30th 2019, 02:20 AM   #4
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 Originally Posted by Woody I am unfamiliar with the notation used by subarua. However I guess that 12/6 against the Carbon indicates Carbon 12 with 6 protons (thus also 6 neutrons) and similarly 24/12 indicates Magnetism 24 with 12 protons (and 12 neutrons) Or perhaps the notation indicates Carbon 12 with 6 neutrons... Either way this would then suggest that the original equation provided should have both carbons preceded by 12/6.
Yeah it's

$\displaystyle ^{12}_{6}C + ^{12}_{6}C = ^{24}_{12}Mg$,

but it's typical to leave out the atomic number since you can identify that from the element, so reactions are typically stated using

$\displaystyle ^{12}C + ^{12}C = ^{24}Mg$

or in the nucleosynthesis literature:

$\displaystyle ^{12}C(^{12}C, \gamma) ^{24}Mg$

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