Answer the following:

PHYSICS · Multi-part · CBSE · Physics · Nuclei · Nuclei

Problem

Answer the following: (i) The electrostatic repulsion between two protons separated by 3 fm3\,\text{fm} is about 160 N160\,\text{N}. If the strong nuclear force at this separation is roughly 100100 times stronger, estimate its magnitude. (ii) In one sentence, explain why increasing the number of nucleons in a very large nucleus does not lead to a proportional increase in binding energy per nucleon, even though the strong force is extremely powerful.

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