"The nuclear force (or nucleon–nucleon interaction, residual strong force, or, historically, strong nuclear force) is a force that acts between the protons and neutrons of atoms."
The strong attractive forces that hold the nucleus together despite the repulsive electric forces between the protons.
Atomic Structure: Understanding the structure of atoms is a fundamental concept in nuclear physics, as it forms the foundation for the behavior of nuclear forces.
Nuclear Models: This subject involves the development of models to describe the behavior of atomic nuclei.
Nuclear Decay: The study of nuclear decay is essential to understanding radioactive materials and their properties.
Nuclear Reactions: This field explores how atomic nuclei interact with one another and how that interaction affects energy release.
Fission and Fusion: The processes by which atomic nuclei can split or combine to release immense amounts of energy.
Nuclear Energy: The practical applications of nuclear forces, including methods for generating electricity and powering other processes, such as medical imaging.
Nuclear Radiation: The study of the harmful effects of nuclear radiation and methods for detecting and mitigating its risks.
Particle Physics: Examining the behavior of subatomic particles, including protons, neutrons, and electrons, and their interactions with other particles.
Neutron Interactions: The study of how neutrons behave within atomic nuclei and how they interact with other particles.
Nuclear astrophysics: This field specializes in the nuclear reactions that take place in stars and other celestial objects.
Nuclear weapons: The application of nuclear forces for military purposes, including the development of weapons and nuclear deterrence strategies.
Nuclear Medicine: The use of nuclear forces for medical applications, such as medical imaging and radiation therapy.
Nuclear waste disposal: The safe and effective disposal of radioactive waste materials.
Quantum Mechanics: The study of the behavior of subatomic particles, which is essential to understanding nuclear forces.
Strong force: This is the strongest of the four fundamental forces and is responsible for holding the nucleus together. It acts between pairs of protons, between pairs of neutrons and between protons and neutrons. The strong force is effective only at very short distances and rapidly decreases as the distance between nucleons increases.
Weak force: This force is responsible for some types of nuclear decay, including beta decay. The weak force is much weaker than the strong force and only becomes significant at very short distances.
Electromagnetic force: This force is responsible for the interactions between electrically charged particles. In nuclei, the electromagnetic force is mainly responsible for the repulsion between protons, which tends to push the nucleus apart.
Gravitational force: This is the weakest of the fundamental forces and has no significant impact on the behavior of atomic nuclei.
"Neutrons and protons, both nucleons, are affected by the nuclear force almost identically."
"The nuclear force binds nucleons into atomic nuclei."
"The nuclear force is powerfully attractive between nucleons at distances of about 0.8 femtometre (fm, or 0.8×10−15 metre), but it rapidly decreases to insignificance at distances beyond about 2.5 fm."
"At distances less than 0.7 fm, the nuclear force becomes repulsive."
"This repulsion is responsible for the size of nuclei, since nucleons can come no closer than the force allows."
"The mass of a nucleus is less than the sum total of the individual masses of the protons and neutrons. The difference in masses is known as the mass defect."
"Energy is stored when the protons and neutrons are bound together by the nuclear force to form a nucleus."
"Energy is released when a heavy nucleus breaks apart into two or more lighter nuclei. This energy is the electromagnetic potential energy that is released when the nuclear force no longer holds the charged nuclear fragments together."
"These equations model the internucleon potential energies, or potentials."
"The constants for the equations are phenomenological, that is, determined by fitting the equations to experimental data."
"The discovery of the neutron in 1932 revealed that atomic nuclei were made of protons and neutrons, held together by an attractive force. By 1935 the nuclear force was conceived to be transmitted by particles called mesons."
"This theoretical development included a description of the Yukawa potential, an early example of a nuclear potential."
"Pions, fulfilling the prediction, were discovered experimentally in 1947."
"By the 1970s, the quark model had been developed, by which the mesons and nucleons were viewed as composed of quarks and gluons."
"By this new model, the nuclear force, resulting from the exchange of mesons between neighboring nucleons, is a residual effect of the strong force."
"...at short range, the attractive nuclear force is strong enough to overcome the electromagnetic force."
"Neutrons and protons, both nucleons, are affected by the nuclear force almost identically."
"The size of an atom, measured in angstroms (Å, or 10−10 m), is five orders of magnitude larger."
"The nuclear force has an essential role in storing energy that is used in nuclear power and nuclear weapons."