A heavy nucleus of mass number $A=240$ with binding energy per nucleon $7.6 ext{ MeV}$ breaks into

Question

A heavy nucleus of mass number $A=240$ with binding energy per nucleon $7.6	ext{ MeV}$ breaks into two fragments of $A=120$ with binding energy per nucleon $8.5	ext{ MeV}$. The total energy released in the process is:

Professor PC Thomas Classes · Answer

Gain in BE per nucleon is $8.5 - 7.6 = 0.9	ext{ MeV}$. Total gain in binding energy for all 240 nucleons is $240 	imes 0.9 = 216	ext{ MeV}$.