Binding energies and decay energy.

[Pigkappa]

I'm having some trouble with the definition of binding energy and decay energy.


Consulting a nuclide table (http://atom.kaeri.re.kr/ton/nuc5.html) I found out that ⁵³Fe has a binding energy of 458380.194 +- 2.107 keV and decays to ⁵³Mn by electron capture. The decay energy is 3.743 MeV and the binding energy of ⁵³Mn is 462904.899 +- 1.439 keV .

I expect the difference in binding energy to be equal to the decay energy, but it is \approx 4.5 MeV (with relative error < 0.01) which is quite different from 3.743 MeV.
Why aren't they the same?

 

[Vanadium 50]

Did you consider the electron?

Is the daughter nucleus in the ground state after the transition?

 

[Meir Achuz]

I'm having some trouble with the definition of binding energy and decay energy.
Why aren't they the same?

They are two completely different things.

 

[Pigkappa]

What are their definitions then?

I thought that the binding energy B = mass of constituents - mass of the nucleus

and Decay energy = energy (mass + kinetic) of emitted particles except the mass of the new nucleus