Mass and energy (A-level only)

Appreciation that $E = mc^2$ applies to all energy changes,

Simple calculations involving mass difference and binding energy.

Atomic mass unit, u.

Conversion of units; 1 u = 931.5 MeV.

Fission and fusion processes.

Simple calculations from nuclear masses of energy released in fission and fusion reactions.

Graph of average binding energy per nucleon against nucleon number.

Students may be expected to identify, on the plot, the regions where nuclei will release energy when undergoing fission/fusion.