how does the nucleus remain intact even though like charges repel?

Answer 1

I hope there's a physicist around here who can answer this one better than I, because the answer is REALLY INTERESTING and I can't do it justice!

There are 4 "forces" known in physics. They are called gravity, electromagnetism, the "strong force" and "the weak force". The physicists first theorized the existence of a "strong force" which held the positively charged protons in a nucleus together more than the electromagnetic force repelled them apart.

My understanding is that as it became apparent that protons, electrons, and neutrons are NOT the most fundamental particles, the "strong force" in turn was found to be an interaction between even smaller sub-atomic particles like quarks.

I love thinking about forces like gravity and electromagnetism (although I do not pretend to understand them in any great detail!).

While we can model these phenomena with mathematics, and can predict what they will do with a high degree of accuracy, we still cannot explain or comprehend how particles can have effects on each other without touching. People sometimes moan about how the invention of science destroyed the mystery and magic in life. I disagree! We KNOW that there is magic in the universe. Just because we've given it a scientific name and can model it with math doesn't make it any less mysterious!

Answer 2

A good question. The strong nuclear force holds nucleons (protons and neutrons) together in an atomic nucleus. If you do the sums, two protons in a nucleus repel each other with a force of several newtons. That's a huge force for such tiny particles. Electrostatic repulsion obeys an inverse square law, but the nuclear force which holds them together drops off far more rapidly with distance, so if you give the nucleus a hard enough whack, the nucleons will fly apart at high speed. Quantum mechanics explains that only a few "magic numbers"of protons and neutrons give you a stable nucleus.

Answer 3

in the nucleus, there are protons with a positive charge, and neutrons, with a neutral charge. the electrons (negative charge) are actually outside the nucleus, floating around in an "electron cloud" the positive protons, located in the nucleus attract to the negative electrons, holding the atom together. within the nucleus, the protons are spaced as far apart from eachother as possible, but at the same time they are "stuck" in that nucleus. same with the electrons: within the electron cloud, the electrons are equally spaced apart because they repel eachother, but at the same time, they are all stuck in that electron cloud.

Answer 4

because the particles in the nucleus are not like. protons are a positive charge and neutrons are a negative charge, thus they hold eachother together. but if you mean when 2 like atoms come together, they do not repel because only the electrons are repelling, not the nucleii.

Answer 5

the person before me is wrong. nutrons do not have a neg charge they have no charge. they do emit "Strong Nuclear Force" that hold the protons togeather via the "Gluon" force particle