Lesson plan
Nuclear density
Nuclear density is the density of the nucleons (neutrons and protons) in the nucleus. For heavy nuclei, it is close to the nuclear saturation density n_0=0.15\pm0.01 nucleons/fm 3 , which minimizes the energy density of an infinite nuclear matter. The nuclear saturation mass density is thus \rho_0=n_0 m_{\rm u} \approx 2.5\times10^{17} kg/m 3 , where m u is the atomic mass constant. The descriptive term nuclear density is also applied to situations where similarly high densities occur, such as within neutron stars.
Article summary
Nuclear density is the density of the nucleons (neutrons and protons) in the nucleus. For heavy nuclei, it is close to the nuclear saturation density n_0=0.15\pm0.01 nucleons/fm 3 , which minimizes the energy density of an infinite nuclear matter. The nuclear saturation mass density is thus \rho_0=n_0 m_{\rm u} \approx 2.5\times10^{17} kg/m 3 , where m u is the atomic mass constant. The descriptive term nuclear density is also applied to situations where similarly high densities occur, such as within neutron stars.
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Discussion questions
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