What is the force that holds a nucleus of an atom together?

Answer 1

The nuclear force or nuclear binding energy holds an atomic nucleus together. (Some science teachers insist it's called the strong nuclear force, which is not quite correct.)

Nuclear binding energy is this nuclear force that overcomes the repulsive electrostatic force of the protons, which is trying to push the nucleus apart. The nuclear binding energy is created from what is called mass deficit. When an atomic nucleus is fused, all the protons and neutrons in that nucleus give up a small amount of their mass, and this mass is converted into the binding energy that holds the nucleus together. And if you guessed that an atomic nucleus has less mass than the sum of the masses of its constituent protons and neutrons, the nucleons, you would be correct.

We sometimes call the binding energy nuclear glue, and it is derived from the stong nuclear force or strong interaction. That also gives rise to another term used for nuclear binding energy, and that is residual strong force. The reason we say that nuclear binding energy is derived from the strong interaction is that the stong interaction actually holds individual protons and neutrons together. It is the strong interaction that binds quarks and gluons together into individual protons and neutrons. And it is in nuclear fusion that the strong interaction mediates the creation of the binding energy to hold a newly fused nucleus together.

Answer: Nuclear binding energy or residual strong force

We know protons are all positively charged, and a fundamental law of electrostatics is that like charges repel. But under extreme conditions, nuclear fusion can occur. Positive charges are forced together with neutrons, and all of the particles undergo changes. Each particle gives up a small amount of mass, and this mass is converted in to nuclear binding energy or nuclear glue. And it is this nuclear glue, what is called the residual strong force, that overcomes the repulsion between the protons and binds all the particles in the nucleus together.

At the extremely small distances between the protons, the binding energy is greater than the electrostatic repulsion trying to force the protons apart. This is true for elements up to those at the upper end of the Periodic Table. The heaviest elements experience instability because of the large numbers of protons in their nuclei, and for the heaviest elements, there is no way a "permanent" nuclear arrangement can be made. The residual strong force cannot act across these large nuclei to make them stable, and they exhibit nuclear instability. This results in them being subject to radioactive decay.

It is not entirely correct to say that the strong force holds atomic nuclei together, as the strong force (strong interaction) actually holds individual protons and neutrons together. It does this by tightly binding the quarks and gluons that make them up. It is the residual strong force that holds atomic nuclei together. That is the source (through mass deficit) that creates the nuclear binding energy or nuclear glue that acts to oppose the electrostatic repulsion of the protons. You might be aware that the strong nuclear force, along with the weak nuclear force, the electromagnetic force, and gravity, are the four fundamental forces in the universe.

It is called, appropriately enough, the nuclear force.

It goes by several names: strong force, strong nuclear force, and color force. They're all describing the same thing.

Strictly speaking, the strong force is what holds quarks together in a hadron. The force that holds hadrons together is the residual color force.

the strong nuclear force is created between nucleons by the exchange of perticles called mesons (changeless particles hadrons made up of one quark and one antiquark).as long as the meson can happen,the strong nuclear force is able to hold the participating nucleons together

• The nucleus is held together by the strong force
• The electrons are held in the atom by the electromagnetic force

Protons and neutrons are held together in the nucleus by the nuclear force, also known as the residual strong atomic force, also known as residual binding energy.

Strong atomic force (binding energy) holds quarks together to form protons and neutrons. It is the strongest force in the universe, followed by a factor of about 100 by the electromagnetic force, and then by many orders of magnitude by the weak atomic force, and then by many many orders of magnitude by gravity. Since it is stronger than the electromagnetic force, it easily overcomes the tendency of the up quark (charge +2/3) and down quark (charge -1/3) to repel each other.

Of course, all of this is a function of distance, so gravity has the most effect, when you consider distance, but in the range of a single proton or neutron, the strong atomic force is king.

What is left over from holding quarks together is called residual binding energy, or simply, the nuclear force. The nuclear force holds protons and neutrons together. While less than the force of binding energy, it is still more powerful than the electromagnetic force, so the protons with a charge of +1, though tending to repel each other, still stick to each other.

Well, its not quite that simple...

In the distance of a proton or a neutron, there is no question about strength but, beyond that, the nuclear force degrades with distance, as does the electromagnetic force. Interestingly the nuclear force degrades faster than the electromagnetic force...

The ramification of this is that, for smaller nuclei, with exceptions noted below, the nuclear force wins out over the electromagnetic force, and the nucleus is stable. This holds true up to atomic number 82 - iron. Starting at atomic number 83 - bismuth - the electromagnetic force starts to win out over the nuclear force, simply because of the size of the nucleus, and the nucleus becomes unstable. As a result, no nuclide starting at bismuth and up is stable - they are all radioactive, while most nuclides from iron on down are stable.

The exception, as promised, is that we still have the issue of proton to neutron balance. It turns out that there is an ideal configuration, based on many things, which is beyond the scope of this question. Suffice to say that 80 of the first 82 elements, from hydrogen to lead, excluding technetium and promethium, have at least one stable isotope.

In an atomic nucleus, protons and neutrons are held in together by what is officially known as the strong nuclear force. The exchange particle by which this force manifests itself is the pi meson.

Answer 2

The force that holds the nucleus of an atom together is called the strong nuclear force. This force is stronger than the electromagnetic force, which tends to repel protons due to their positive charges. The strong nuclear force overcomes these repulsive forces and keeps protons and neutrons bound together in the nucleus.

Answer 3

It goes by several names: strong force, strong nuclear force, and color force. They're all describing the same thing.

Strictly speaking, the strong force is what holds quarks together in a hadron. The force that holds hadrons together is the residual color force.

Answer 4

The residual strong nuclear force.

(The strong, or "color", force holds the quarks together in an individual nucleon. The residual color force serves to hold the nucleons together in a nucleus. It's somewhat analogous to the dipole-dipole interaction, except it involves the color force rather than the electromagnetic force.)

Answer 5

This binding force is called "strong force".

Answer 6

The force between nucleons is called nuclear force.

Answer 7

The force between nucleons is called nuclear force.

Answer 8

The force between nucleons is called nuclear force.

Answer 9

That force is called the "strong force".

Answer 10

strong force