• What is it?
  • An amazing force that only acts within the atomic nucleus.
  • Imagine it as the "super glue" keeping the nucleus from falling apart!
• Cool properties
  • Strength: A whopping 10^38 times stronger than gravity! If gravity is like a feather's touch, SNF is like the world's strongest high-five! 🖐️
  • Range: It acts over super short distances, around 1 femtometer (fm) – that's 0.000000000000001 meters! Think of two nucleons (protons or neutrons) being extremely close friends.
  • Who's Involved: Just nuclear particles (protons & neutrons). Electrons and neutrinos? They don't get invited to this party.

• Sir James Chadwick discovered the neutron in 1932, which explained some of the mass in the nucleus.
• But, hold on! With all those positively charged protons, there should be a massive party-foul called electrostatic repulsion, pushing them apart. 🎈🎈
• Why doesn’t the nucleus just explode due to this repulsion? Enter our hero - the Strong Nuclear Force!

Imagine two protons in the nucleus having a dance battle...

• Region X: Both SNF and electrostatic forces are like bad dance moves, repelling each other. Bad vibes only!
• Region Z: SNF is tired and the electrostatic force shows off, resulting in repulsion. Not the best moves!
• Region Y: This is where the magic happens. SNF pulls some amazing dance moves, attracting the other proton and overshadowing the electrostatic force. It's a dance of attraction!

• Large nuclei (like uranium) have a dance floor problem. Protons on opposite sides might not feel the SNF's attraction.
• This is where neutrons, the cool silent type with no charge, step in. They increase the attraction, ensuring that even in big nuclei, the party goes on!

💡 Pop Quiz: If only electric and gravitational forces existed, could a nucleus stay together? Answer - Nope! Gravitational force isn't the secret sauce here. There's a cool table in Topics D.1 and D.2 that breaks this down further.