What are nuclear forces ? Write their properties.

Explanation

The forces which hold the nucleons together in nucleus are called nuclear nuclear forces.
Properties of Nuclear forces :
1. Nuclear forces are attractive forces between proton and proton (P - P), proton and neutron (P - N) and neutron and neutron (N - N).
2. Nuclear forces are independent of charge. It was found that force between proton and proton is same as force between neutron and neutron.
3. These forces are short range forces i.e., these forces will act upto a small distance only. Generally the range of nuclear forces is upto few Fermi `(10^(-15)m)`.
4. These forces are non central forces. i.e., they do not act along the line joining the two nucleons,
5. These forces are exchange forces. The force between two nucleons is due to exchange of `pi`- mesons.
6. These forces are spin dependent. These forces are strong when the spin of two nucleons are in same direction and they are weak when they are in opposite direction.
7. Nuclear forces are saturated forces i.e., the force between nucleons will extend upto the immediate neighbouring nucleons only.
8. These are the strongest forces in nature. They are nearly `10^(38)` times stronger than gravitational forces and nearly 100 times stronger than Coulombic forces.