Nuclear Stability: A Comparison of Binding Energy and Packing Fraction

[Krushnaraj Pandya]

Homework Statement

This is a conceptual question I have, the binding energy per nucleon is mass defect*c^2/mass number while the packing fraction is mass defect/mass number. A higher binding energy per nucleon indicates a more stable nucleus BUT a smaller packing fraction indicates a more stable nucleus as well despite BE/A=PF*c^2 as per the formulas- what blunder am I making?

Homework Equations

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The Attempt at a Solution

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[Krushnaraj Pandya]

Let me re-frame the question, a higher mass defect means more energy to hold the nucleus together and a smaller atomic mass means less nucleons and radius, according to this a higher packing fraction should indicate a more stable nucleus not a less stable one, I'd be really grateful for any help to understand this-Thank you

 

[Krushnaraj Pandya]

can anyone solve this discrepancy?

 

[mjc123]

Packing fraction is a term from mass spectrometry, in which "mass defect" is defined differently than in nuclear physics.