binding energy

American  

[bahyn-ding en-er-jee] / ˈbaɪn dɪŋ ˌɛn ər dʒi /

noun

Physics.

1. Also called separation energy.  the energy required to decompose a molecule, atom, or nucleus into its constituent particles, equal to the energy equivalent of the mass defect.

2. the energy required to separate a single particle or group of particles from a molecule, atom, or nucleus.

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binding energy British  

noun

1. the energy that must be supplied to a stable nucleus before it can undergo fission. It is equal to the mass defect

2. the energy required to remove a particle from a system, esp an electron from an atom

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Etymology

Origin of binding energy

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

Because Oph 98 A and B are so light and so widely separated, the system has the lowest gravitational binding energy of any known binary pair.

From Scientific American

By damping trash onto the surface of the white dwarf, one could harvest its gravitational binding energy from the emitted electromagnetic radiation at nearly the yield of nuclear fuel.

From Scientific American

The binding energy of an atom or ion — the energy required to break the atom into its free electrons and a nucleus — is different in an excited metastable state from that in the ground state.

From Nature

This so-called “Hawking radiation” is enabled by the gravitational binding energy of virtual particles that end inside the black hole.

From Scientific American

The report says the climate targets were weakened as a result; they included no binding energy savings target and included a “woefully inadequate” renewable energy target.

From The Guardian