Which statement describes why energy is released in a nuclear fusion reaction based on mass-energy equivalence?

When small nuclei fuse, the resulting heavier nucleus is more tightly bound than the lighter nuclei were. Its binding energy is greater than the combined binding energy of the lighter nuclei, and the difference is released as energy; equivalently, the products have less mass. So the best choice is “For small nuclei, the binding energy of the lighter nuclei is less than the binding energy of the heavier nucleus.”

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