The nucleus of an atom contains protons and neutrons held together by nuclear binding energy. This energy prevents particles from leaving and repelling each other. The mass of the nucleus comes from the particles’ isolated mass and the binding energy.
The nucleus of an atom is its central nucleus, which consists of one or more protons and, with the exception of only the lightest form of hydrogen, also of neutrons. There is no charge to a neutron, yet something prevents them from slipping out of the nucleus. Furthermore, every proton within the nucleus is positively charged; they should repel each other, depleting the core – a little bit of energy prevents that too. By definition, the energy that keeps all these particles inside the nucleus is the “nuclear binding energy”. Since Einstein discovered the mathematical relationship that identifies matter with energy – E = mc2, where E is energy, m is mass, and c is the speed of light – the nuclear binding energy can be calculated with relative ease.
The mass within the core comes from two sources. One is the mass that each particle would contain if it were isolated, free from charges or gravitational interactions. The second source of mass is the increase directly attributable to the binding nuclear energy. These two sources give rise to the equation m
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