A nucleus with mass number 240 breaks into two fragments each of mass number 120 , the binding energy per nucleon of unfragmented nuclei is 7 . 6   MeV while that of fragments is 8 . 5   MeV . The total gain in the binding energy in the process is :

Step-by-step solution

Given binding energy per nucleon of X ,   Y   &   Z are, 7 . 6   M eV ,   8 . 5   M eV   &   8 . 5   M eV respectively. ⇒ B . E . = ( 120 × 8 . 5 ) + ( 120 × 8 . 5 ) - 240 × 7 . 6 ⇒ B . E . = 2040 - 1824 = 216   M eV