A college friend of yours who has been postponing taking any science courses hears you talking about the generation of nuclear e
nergy in the Sun and makes the following observation: "The whole idea of the atomic nucleus is pretty ridiculous. If an oxygen nucleus consists of eight protons and eight neutrons, the charge on that nucleus is positive. Since even I learned in high school that like charges repel, such a nucleus would find all its positive protons repelling and quickly fall apart." How would you answer his argument?
There are <em>more</em> elemental forces than just the electromagnetic one. In this case, it is the nuclear force (called also strong force) the one that holds the nucleus together because it is stronger than the electromagnetic force over such short distances as the one inside the atomic nucleus.
