Space between nucleus and electrons

[JLowe]

Compressibility does not imply the existence of empty space, and the fact that energy is required seems to imply the opposite. After all, how much work does it take to compress vacuum?

What is it that is actually gets compressed then in a neutron star? I had assumed that what seemed like solid ground was only solid due to electron repulsion of the atoms.(Of course there are chemical bonds, etc as well) And If this repulsion is overcome, the nuclei compress closer together spatially.

And compression of vacuum is "easy" until pressure is equalized correct? At which point it begins taking more and more energy to force more matter into the same volume.

I apologize if my questions seem overly naive.

 

[Dale]

And compression of vacuum is "easy" until pressure is equalized correct? At which point it begins taking more and more energy to force more matter into the same volume.

Exactly. Compressing vacuum is easy. Compressing atoms is not.

So it doesn't seem like the compression of atoms implies the presence of vacuum inside the atom. There is something different about the inside of an atom and what we normally think of as vacuum.

 

[Dale]

What is it that is actually gets compressed then in a neutron star?

In a neutron star the material is fundamentally different. There are no longer atoms which have been squeezed. The squeezing destroys the electrons and protons and creates neutrons. It is primarily the absence of electrons which accounts for the higher density.

 

[JLowe]

In a neutron star the material is fundamentally different. There are no longer atoms which have been squeezed. The squeezing destroys the electrons and protons and creates neutrons. It is primarily the absence of electrons which accounts for the higher density.

I understand what you're saying. I suppose my error is in the visualization of how this compression is occurring.

 

[jerromyjon]

It's like compressing springs so to speak until you break the springs and the nuclei collapse leads to one big nucleus, basic analogy. There is no middle ground once broken, and singularities which are basically the next step everything affects a sphere as if it is in one point.