Question

the amount of energy required to break a nucleus into individual protons and neutrons is called mass - energy equivalence mass defect binding energy mass - energy conservation

Explanation:

Binding energy is the energy required to disassemble a nucleus into its constituent protons and neutrons. Mass - energy equivalence is related to $E = mc^{2}$. Mass defect is the difference between the sum of the masses of individual nucleons and the mass of the nucleus. Mass - energy conservation is a general principle.

Answer:

binding energy