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Path: utzoo!watmath!watarts!bernie
From: bernie@watarts.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.physics
Subject: Re: opposites attract
Message-ID: <1941@watarts.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 14-Jul-83 11:33:53 EDT
Article-I.D.: watarts.1941
Posted: Thu Jul 14 11:33:53 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 15-Jul-83 00:27:59 EDT
References: tekmdp.2075
Lines: 9

The reason protons stay all bunched up together in the nucleus is that they
are held together by a different (non-electromagnetic) force, which is more
powerful over short distances than em, but that drops off more quickly than
1/r^2; the whole idea behind fusion is to bang protons together so hard and
fast that they come close together before the EM forces push them apart.
Once they're really close, the other force takes over and they stay that way
(in the process giving up a *lot* of energy).
					--Bernie Roehl
					...decvax!watmath!watarts!bernie