Question

For separations smaller than \[r_0 \approx 0.8\ \text{fm}\], the nuclear force between two nucleons becomes:

Options

• Strongly attractive

• Exactly zero

• Strongly repulsive

• Gravitational in nature

Answer 1

When two nucleons approach closer than \(r_0 \approx 0.8\ \text{fm}\), the nuclear force becomes strongly repulsive. This repulsive behaviour at extremely small distances prevents nucleons from collapsing into one another.