Binding energy per nucleon peaks at ⁵⁶Fe (~8.8 MeV); fusion drives light nuclei up, fission splits heavy. Semi-empirical mass formula (Weizsäcker 1935): volume, surface, Coulomb, asymmetry, pairing terms.
Binding energy per nucleon peaks at ⁵⁶Fe (~8.8 MeV); fusion drives light nuclei up, fission splits heavy. Semi-empirical mass formula (Weizsäcker 1935): volume, surface, Coulomb, asymmetry, pairing terms.