General Properties of Nucleus:
(i) Nuclear Size:
From Rutherford’s work, the mean radius of nucleus is 
and the radius of the atom is 
. Thus the radius of the nucleus is 10,000 times smaller than the radius of the atom.
The empirical formula for the nuclear radius is,
Here, A is the mass number, 
is a constant.
From this formula the radius of the Carbon (
) nucleus is.
(ii) Nuclear Mass:
If there are Z protons and N neutrons then the assumed mass is,
Where, 
is the mass of each proton and 
is mass of each neutron. But,
Real nuclear mass < 
Difference of the masses,
real mass = Δm
Δm is called the mass defect.
(iii) Nuclear Density:
Nuclear density, 
Here, nuclear mass = 
, where A is the mass number and 
is the mass of the nucleon = 
Nuclear volume = 
(iv) Nuclear Charge:
The charge of the nucleus is the charge of the proton contained in it. Each proton has a positive charge of 
The nuclear charge is Ze, where Z is the atomic number of the nucleus.
The nuclear charge is Ze, where Z is the atomic number of the nucleus.