Nuclear forces exhibit unique features that account for many observed properties of nuclei.
(a) State any four characteristic properties of the nuclear force.
(b) Binding energy per nucleon Ebn is found to be nearly constant (about 8MeV) for a wide range of mass numbers 20≤A≤180. Explain how this observation supports the saturation property of the nuclear force.
(c) Experimental measurements give the nuclear radius formula R=R0A1/3 with R0≈1.2fm, implying nearly constant nuclear density. Explain why this behaviour indicates that the nuclear force is short-ranged.