The property that a given nucleon
FIGURE 13 1 The binding energy per nucleon
as a function of mass number Rationalised 2023-24
313
Nuclei
influences only nucleons close to it is also referred to as saturation
property of the nuclear force (iii) A very heavy nucleus, say A = 240, has lower binding energy per
nucleon compared to that of a  nucleus with A = 120