How is strong force calculated?
1 Answer
The strong nuclear force can be measured by binding energy.
Explanation:
The strong nuclear force binds protons and neutrons to form a nucleus. A nucleus has less mass that the equivalent number of protons and neutrons.
For example a Helium-4 nucleus has 2 protons and 2 neutrons. The mass of a Helium-4 nucleus is less than the mass of 2 free protons plus 2 free neutrons. The missing mass is the binding energy.
The binding energy allows the strong force to overcome the electromagnetic force which tries to make all protons repel each other. The only way a Helium-4 nucleus can be broken down into its 2 protons and 2 neutrons is to add enough energy to replace the binding energy.
The fusion reactions which power stars releases this binding energy when 4 protons (Hydrogen nuclei) fuse to form a Helium-4 nucleus.
