If deuterium and tritium fuse, forming helium-5, why is the mass of the helium-5 nucleus slightly less than the sum of the initial deuterium and tritium masses?

💡 Explanation

The mass decreases because the nuclear binding energy converts a portion of the mass into energy, according to mass–energy equivalence. This mass defect appears as the energy released during fusion; therefore, the mass of helium-5 is less, rather than being caused by electrostatic repulsion or quantum effects.

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