"At a distance of 1.5 fermi, the nuclear force becomes maximum and remains attractive in nature. However, at a distance of 0.5 fermi, the nuclear force suddenly becomes repulsive. "

Revered Members,
Nuclear force is a short range force, so naturally when the distance between the nucleons decrease, there should be more attractive force. I can't understand why repulsive force becomes predominant when the distance between the nucleons is of the order of 0.5 fermi.

 

I think this will be due to the Pauli exclusion principle. But with quantum mechanics it's never best to try and visualise why, as not much makes intuitive sense.

 

Thanks Mark_T.
Pauli's exclusion principle states, " No two electron can exist in the same quantum state". But in nucleus no electrons exist? Could you elaborate, please?

 

The repulsive force in the nucleus is the electromagnetic force. It goes as the inverse square of the separation. As r (the separation) approaches 0 the electromagnetic force tends to infinity.

Protons and Neutrons are also fermions because they have half-integer spin; and as fermions they also follow the Pauli exclusion principle.

 

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