mass defect and conservation of mass?

Jerrod Guilfoil: It does. That's the whole point of why nuclear physics is so cool.The law of conservation of mass and the law of conservation of energy are classical laws, but they're broken when we talk about physics outside the realms of classical physics.Turns out, according to Einstein, that energy and mass are the same thing, here, the mass of the nucleus is less than the combined masses of the nucleons because energy is released on fusion, that energy is exactly equal to the defect in mass times the speed of light squared....Show more

Mildred Pombo: Because the conservtaion of mass is actually only part of the conservation law.The law is the conservation of mass-energy. where you equate change in mass by the equation E=mc^2.The energy released due to the mass defect is what causes nuclear explosions and also fusion in the sun. For more information look up binding-energy per nucleon....Show more

Avis Brantner: It does. The law of conservation of mass onl! y applies to approximations involving systems of low energy, not nuclear reactions in which the energies are large.

Ezekiel Kadner: that quantity of mass is 'converted' into power by using that E = MC^2 ratio. it extremely is the recognized exception to conservation of mass and conservation of power. Mass and power are interchangable at that ratio.