binding energy
(energy needed to separate two objects)
Binding energy is the amount of energy required to separate
two objects that are bound together by some force.
The concept and term are used in respect to nuclear
reactions, ionization, chemical reactions, but
also applies to items bound together by gravity.
Given that it refers to energy required, it is generally expressed
as a negative number, and when the opposite is done,
i.e., the two unbound objects are bound together,
binding energy is released, and this is expressed as
a positive number.
Examples:
- For a rock sitting on the Earth, their binding energy (specifically, gravitational binding energy) is the energy to lift the rock until it is virtually independent of Earth's gravity, which is the same as the kinetic energy of the rock moving at escape velocity.
- For a neutral atom, e.g., hydrogen, its ionization potential, the energy required to totally remove the electron from orbiting the nucleus is a binding energy.
- For a nucleus, e.g., deuterium, the binding energy between the nucleons (the proton and the neutron) is the energy required to separate them into a lone proton and a lone neutron.
In the nuclear case (nuclear binding energy), transformations
that release binding energy (e.g., fusion) are of detailed
interest due to their role in powering stars and some transients.
In fact, a major step in developing current models of stellar structure
was the conceptualization of fusion reactions that could be plausibly
triggered by the Sun's internal temperature and pressure
and that would release significant binding energy, i.e., sufficient
energy to power the Sun for its billions of years.
The power associated with the release of binding energy due to
gravity can be as significant as that of fusion, e.g., during
star formation, or when it involves a compact object.
(physics,ionization)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binding_energy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_binding_energy
https://www.britannica.com/science/binding-energy
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/NucEne/nucbin.html
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/binding_energy
Referenced by pages:
core collapse
dalton (Da)
electron orbital
energy
fusion
gravitationally bound
hardness
ionization potential
iron peak
Kelvin-Helmholtz timescale (KH timescale)
mass number (A)
neutrinoless double beta decay
nickel (Ni)
protogalaxy
Stark effect
valley of beta stability
Zeeman effect
Index