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watts up?
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If like charges repel each other, what keeps the protons clustered in the nucleus of the atom from separating ? and why wouldn't the electrons with a negative charge pull them out from the nucleus ?
watts up? said:If like charges repel each other, what keeps the protons clustered in the nucleus of the atom from separating ?
Was hoping the Op would make an effort to research thatProfuselyQuarky said:Protons actually do repel electromagnetically. However, this is "evened out" with a strong force, which is said to be over a hundred times more powerful than the electromagnetic force.
http://aether.lbl.gov/elements/stellar/strong/strong.html
Sorry for that, Dave ... I can no longer delete the post, eitherdavenn said:Was hoping the Op would make an effort to research that
please don't be so quick with full answers
ProfuselyQuarky said:Sorry for that, Dave ... I can no longer delete the post, either
I think my teachers get a bit irritated with that, too, sometimes
Protons are held together in the nucleus by strong nuclear force, which is stronger than the electromagnetic force that causes repulsion between positively charged particles. This force is mediated by particles called gluons, which bind the protons together.
The force between protons is actually stronger than the force between protons and electrons. However, the distance between protons in the nucleus is much smaller than the distance between the nucleus and electrons, making the force between protons less noticeable.
Neutrons do not have a charge, so they do not contribute to the repulsion between protons. However, they do contribute to the strong nuclear force that holds the nucleus together, helping to balance out the repulsive forces between protons.
Yes, protons can repel each other under certain conditions. For example, when two atoms come close to each other, the repulsion between their positively charged nuclei can overcome the attractive force between their electrons, leading to repulsion between the atoms.
The number of protons, or atomic number, determines the element and its properties. As the number of protons increases, so does the number of electrons, which determines the atom's chemical behavior. However, too many protons can cause instability, leading to radioactive decay in some elements.