A nucleus with mass number 240 and binding energy per nucleon 7.6 MeV splits into two fragments each of mass number 120 with binding energy per nucleon 8.5 MeV. The amount of energy released in this process will be:

216 MeV

The correct answer is Option (3) → 216 MeV

$\text{Initial binding energy} = 240 \times 7.6 = 1824 \ \text{MeV}$

$\text{Final binding energy} = 2 \times (120 \times 8.5)$

$\text{Final binding energy} = 2 \times 1020 = 2040 \ \text{MeV}$

$\text{Energy released} = 2040 - 1824$

$\text{Energy released} = 216 \ \text{MeV}$

The energy released is $216 \ \text{MeV}$.