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Topic: mass of an atom  (Read 8051 times)

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darkouthere

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mass of an atom
« on: March 27, 2006, 10:40:17 PM »
Why is the mass of an atom of 4He less than the sum of the masses of 2 protons, 2 neutrons, and 2 electrons?

Offline Bakegaku

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Re:mass of an atom
« Reply #1 on: March 27, 2006, 11:35:31 PM »
When the nucleons fuse together some of their energy is spent off as bonding energy, so the fused forms are lesser mass than their free forms.  This is why fusion gives off energy.
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