Which of the following statements concerning the 'packing fraction' of a nucleus is correct? — Nuclear Chemistry and Radioactivity Chemistry Question

💡 Solution & Explanation

Packing fraction is defined as $\frac{\text{Actual isotopic mass} - \text{Mass number}}{\text{Mass number}} \times 10^4$. Carbon-12 is used as the reference for atomic mass, so its isotopic mass is exactly 12, yielding a packing fraction of zero. A negative or zero packing fraction indicates that mass was lost as binding energy, implying higher stability. Hydrogen has the highest packing fraction (+78).