= Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
{c}
{tag=Physicist}
= C. F. von Weizsäcker
{c}
{synonym}
<Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker> developed a semi-empirical description of nuclear masses and <mass defects>. The <semi-empirical mass formula> connects <nuclear binding energy> with the number and arrangement of <protons> and <neutrons>, rather than treating every measured mass as an unrelated datum. In modern explanatory terms, bulk binding scales roughly with the nucleon number $A$, a surface correction with $A^{2/3}$, and the electrostatic cost with $Z^2/A^{1/3}$. These competing scalings explain why increasing nuclear size does not improve the binding per <nucleon> indefinitely.<Zur Theorie der Kernmassen by Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker>[1935 paper, section 5, semi-empirical mass defects; modern scaling explanation]{ref}
A <physicist>.https://www.mpg.de/12268010/trauerfeier-weizacker.pdf[Independent professional profile]{ref}https://www.mpp.mpg.de/en/about-us/history/time-line[Independent professional profile]{ref}
\Image[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-F063257-0006%2C_Carl_Friedrich_von_Weizs%C3%A4cker.jpg]
{title=Portrait of <Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker>}
{width=240}
Back to article page
