When the separation between two nucleons decreases below about
PHYSICS · Single correct · A Level · Physics · Nuclear physics · Nuclear physics
Problem
When the separation between two nucleons decreases below about 0.8fm, the nuclear force becomes strongly repulsive. What is the principal significance of this behaviour?
(a) It causes the nuclear binding energy per nucleon to saturate at about 8MeV.
(b) It makes the nuclear force depend on the electric charge of the interacting nucleons.
(c) It prevents the nucleons from collapsing into a point inside the nucleus.
(d) It leads to the observed variation of the nuclear radius as R∝A1/3.