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On a scale less than about 0.8 fm (roughly the radius of a nucleon), the force is carried by gluons and holds quarks together to form protons, neutrons, and other hadrons. On a larger scale, up to about 3 fm, the force is carried by mesons and binds nucleons (protons and neutrons) together to form the nucleus of an atom. [2]
Energy is released when a heavy nucleus breaks apart into two or more lighter nuclei. This energy is the internucleon potential energy that is released when the nuclear force no longer holds the charged nuclear fragments together. [3] [4] A quantitative description of the nuclear force relies on equations that are partly empirical. These ...
A model of an atomic nucleus showing it as a compact bundle of protons (red) and neutrons (blue), the two types of nucleons.In this diagram, protons and neutrons look like little balls stuck together, but an actual nucleus (as understood by modern nuclear physics) cannot be explained like this, but only by using quantum mechanics.
The term was coined by Murray Gell-Mann in 1962 [a] for being similar to an adhesive or glue that keeps the nucleus together. [9] Together with the quarks, these particles were referred to as partons by Richard Feynman .
The helium nucleus has four nucleons bound together, and the binding energy which holds them together is, in effect, the missing 0.8% of mass. [ 8 ] [ 9 ] For lighter elements, the energy that can be released by assembling them from lighter elements decreases, and energy can be released when they fuse.
In 1935 Hideki Yukawa [26] proposed the first significant theory of the strong force to explain how the nucleus holds together. In the Yukawa interaction a virtual particle, later called a meson, mediated a force between all nucleons, including protons and neutrons.
A hadron is a composite subatomic particle.Every hadron must fall into one of the two fundamental classes of particle, bosons and fermions. In particle physics, a hadron (/ ˈ h æ d r ɒ n / ⓘ; from Ancient Greek ἁδρός (hadrós) 'stout, thick') is a composite subatomic particle made of two or more quarks held together by the strong interaction.
The number of nucleons in a nucleus defines the atom's mass number (nucleon number). Until the 1960s, nucleons were thought to be elementary particles, not made up of smaller parts. Now they are understood as composite particles, made of three quarks bound together by the strong interaction.