Nuclear density is the density of the nucleus of an atom, averaging about 4×1017 kg/m3. The descriptive term nuclear density is also applied to situations where similarly high densities occur, such as within neutron stars.
The nuclear density for a typical nucleus can be approximately calculated from the size of the nucleus, which itself can be approximated based on the number of protons and neutrons in it. The radius of a typical nucleus, in terms of number of nucleons, is where is the mass number and is 1.25 fm, with deviations of 0.2 fm from this value. The density of the nucleus is thus:
The mass density is the product of n by the nuclear mass.
For a single nucleon, A=1, therefore
The experimentally determined value for n is 0.16 fm–3. The calculated mass density, using a nucleon mass of 1.67×10−27 kg, is thus:
Read more about Nuclear Density: Applications and Extensions
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