Why do protons remain in the nucleus

The study of chemistry is largely the study of electrons and how they flow between atoms. Furthermore, the electromagnetic fields accompanied by these charges can interact with radiation with wavelengths all across the electromagnetic spectrum, giving rise to the huge variety of spectroscopic techniques we have developed to help give us clues as to the structure of atoms and molecules. What about the other forces in chemistry? What about the strong nuclear force? What holds the nucleus together?

The strong nuclear force. At extremely short range, it is stronger than electrostatic repulsion, and allows protons to stick together in a nucleus even though their charges repel each other. Remember that the size of the nucleus is really small compared to the size of an atom. When it comes to the strong force, there is a break-even point. Physicists have observed that the nucleus becomes increasingly more stable upon the addition of nucleons up to iron Then, as successive protons are added, the nucleus gets more and more unstable , due to the electrostatic repulsion outweighing the attractive nuclear force.

Although the strong force overcomes electrostatic repulsion, protons do repel each other. For this reason, it's usually easier to add neutrons to an atom than to add protons. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile.

Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. This would have massively altered the course of the evolution of the Universe completely different big bang and stellar nucleosynthesis.

Chemistry could be virtually non-existent! Featured on Meta. Now live: A fully responsive profile. Version labels for answers. Linked 5. Related Hot Network Questions. Chemistry Stack Exchange works best with JavaScript enabled. In fact, electrons in the s states tend to peak at the nucleus. Electrons are not little balls that can fall into the nucleus under electrostatic attraction.

Rather, electrons are quantized wavefunctions that spread out in space and can sometimes act like particles in limited ways. An electron in an atom spreads out according to its energy. The states with more energy are more spread out. All electron states overlap with the nucleus, so the concept of an electron "falling into" or "entering" the nucleus does not really make sense. Electrons are always partially in the nucleus.