Why is strong force important?
1 Answer
The strong force holds the nucleus of atoms together.
Explanation:
The strongest of the four natural forces, the strong force is responsible for binding nucleons together. The strong force is communicated by the exchange of gluons, which protons and neutrons are sensitive to. Gluons, however, have a short lifetime, so unlike gravity and the electromagnetic force, the strong force only acts over a finite distance, the size of an atomic nucleus.
Without the strong force, electrostatic repulsion would prevent protons from fusing. The electromagnetic force dictates that particles with the same charge will repel each other. That means that any time two protons come together, there is a force pushing them apart. So without the strong force to overcome the electromagnetic force, the only element that would exist in the universe would be hydrogen.
