[Physics Class Notes] on Deuteron Mass Pdf for Exam

An atom which consists of particles too small are known as subatomic particles. One of the subatomic particles is known as deuteron.

In , this comprehensive section of the Physics chapter explains about deuteron and its mass. The website provides easy downloadable pdfs to the students for them to understand the definition of deuteron mass, how to determine its value and note the important difference between deuteron and deuterium. 

What is a Deuteron?

The deuteron is a subatomic particle that contains a neutron and a proton. The atom is called deuterium, and the nucleus which exists in it is called a deuteron. It is one of the two stable isotopes of hydrogen. It is a stable particle due to the presence of the same number of neutrons and protons. Because of which, deuterium is positively charged. The free neutron of the deuterium atom is unstable and hence it usually undergoes beta decay with a half-life period of around 10.3 minutes.

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Binding energy is defined as the amount of energy needed to split a particle from a system of particles or to disperse the entire particles of the system. The binding energy of deuteron is approximately equal to 2.2 MeV. During the process of beta decay, change in energy occurs inside the atom. If the free neutron of the deuterium undergoes beta decay to form a proton, an electron, and an antineutrino, the total mass-energy of the constituent particles will be:

2(938.27 MeV) + 0.511 MeV = 1877.05 MeV

However, the energy of a deuteron particle is 1875.6 MeV, which means that it is stable against beta decay in terms of energy. During beta decay, the free neutron produces energy of 0.78 MeV, but the deuteron that has the binding energy of 2.2 MeV prevents the decay of the neutrons.

Deuterium Explained

Deuterium or hydrogen-2, symbol D, is also known as heavy hydrogen. There are two stable isotopes of hydrogen; one is protium or hydrogen-1 and the other is deuterium or hydrogen-2. The nucleus of deuterium is called a deuteron which contains a proton and a neutron, whereas the protium doesn’t contain any neutron in its nucleus. Deuterium is abundantly available in the oceans, one deuterium atom is found per 6420 atoms of hydrogen.

Did You know?

The stability of the deuterium atom has played a major role during the formation of the universe in the initial stage. In the Big Bang model it is assumed that the number of protons and neutrons are equal. In the early stages the available energies were much higher as compared to 0.78 MeV required to convert an electron and a proton into a neutron. When the temperature dropped, the neutrons were no longer generated from the protons. The decay of neutrons gradually decreased the number of neutrons. The neutrons which combined with the protons and formed the deuteron didn’t undergo any further decay. If all the neutrons had decayed, the universe wouldn’t be as we know it.

Deuteron Mass and Charge

Deuterium is a stable atomic particle containing a proton and neutron. It is denoted by D or 2H and is called Hydrogen-2. Mass of deuteron is expressed in terms of an atomic mass unit (amu) or electron volts (eV). The Charge of deuteron is +1e. This is due to the presence of protons.

1 Amu in Mev

The atomic mass unit (amu) is defined as the 1/12 mass of a carbon-12 atom. The carbon-12 or C-12 atom consists of 6 neutrons and 6 protons in its nucleus. Precisely, one amu is the average mass proton and neutron at rest.

If we want to convert the binding energy in terms of MeV (mega electron volt) per nucleon, will have to apply the conversion factor which is given by

1 MeV = 1.602 x 10-13 J

One amu is equivalent to energy of 931.5 MeV.

Amu Value

One AMU is the average of the rest mass of a neutron and the rest mass of a proton. This mass is approximately equal to 1.67377 x 10-27 kilogram (kg), or 1.67377 x 10-24 gram (g). The mass of an atomic particle in terms of amu is approximately equal to the number of protons and neutrons in its nucleus.

MeV Meaning

MeV is the abbreviation for mega- electron volt, and mev is the abbreviation for million electron volts.

A MeV or Mega electron-volt is 1 million times of an eV. One eV (electron-volt) is defined as the energy gained by an electron (or any other charged particle having a charge equal to that of an electron) when it passes through a potential difference of 1 volt. In SI unit 1eV is equal to 1.6*10-19 Joules.

Mass of a Deuteron

The exact formula applied to determine the mass of a deuteron is through atomic mass unit or mass electron volt is as follows:

To determine the mass of a deuteron, it is calculated by using the atomic mass unit (amu) or Mass electron volts (MeV). The one by twelfth part of the mass of a carbon 12 atom is defined as an atomic mass unit. Basically, there are equal amounts of neutrons and protons, six and six each, in the nucleus of the carbon 12 atom.

One atomic mass unit (amu) is the average of the proton and neutron rest mass. To calculate the atomic mass unit of any deuteron mass, the formula shown below is applicable to it. The equations differ with the amount of mass density in the atomic structure of the atom. Thus, the atomic mass value is defined in the following way.