Mirror nuclides are pairs with the numbers Z and N reversed, such as 15 N and 15

Question

Mirror nuclides are pairs with the numbers Z and Nreversed, such as 15N and 15O.

A. Find the binding energy of 15N.

B. Find the binding energy of 15O.

C. What does the size of the difference between their binding energies suggest about the charge independence of the strong force?

--- the binding energy strongly depends on the charge

OR

---the binding energy does not depend on the charge to any great extent

NOTE:

I tried 111.92 MeV for A and 107.87 for B and the homework program told me "Not quite. Check through your calculations; you may have made a rounding error or used the wrong number of significant figures." However, it does not specify a desired amount of sig figs and they have never been a problem before

Explanation / Answer

The biniding energy of N-15 is

B_N = [ Z m_p + N m_n - M ] c^2

= ( 7(1.007825) + 8 (1.008665) - 15.000108)c^2

=115.49 MeV

Binding energy of O-15

B_O = (8 (1.007825) + 7 ( 1.008665) - 15.003065 ) c^2

=111.95

The difference in binding energies is

B = B_N - B_O

= 115.49 - 111.95 = 3.533 MeV

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