We are now interested in interpreting experimental binding energies in terms of a single-particle picture. In order to do so, we consider first energy conservation for nuclear transformations that include, for example, the fusion of two nuclei \( a \) and \( b \) into the combined system \( c \) $$ {^{N_a+Z_a}}a+ {^{N_b+Z_b}}b\rightarrow {^{N_c+Z_c}}c $$ or the decay of nucleus \( c \) into two other nuclei \( a \) and \( b \) $$ ^{N_c+Z_c}c \rightarrow ^{N_a+Z_a}a+ ^{N_b+Z_b}b $$