Shapes of non-rotating nuclei

We study nuclear potential-energy surfaces, ground-state masses and shapes calculated by use of a Yukawa-plus-exponential macroscopic model and a folded-Yukawa single-particle potential for 4023 nuclei ranging from 16O to 279112. We discuss extensively the transition from spherical to deformed shapes and study the relation between shape changes and the mass corresponding to the ground-state minimum. The calculated values for the ground-state mass and shape show good agreement with experimental data throughout the periodic system, but some discrepancies remain that deserve further study. We also discuss the effect of deformation on Gamow-Teller #betta#-strength functions