Draw a plot of potential energy of a pair of nucleons as a function of their separation. Write two important conclusions which you can draw regarding the nature of nuclear forces.

Explanation

A plot of potential energy of a pair of nucleons as a function of their separation ‘r’ has been shown in Fig. 13.06.
Two important conclusions drawn from this are :
(1) The potential energy is a minimum at a distance `r_(0)cong0.8` fm. It means that the nuclear force between two nucleons is attractive for distances larger than 0.8 fm and repulsive if they are separated by distances less than 0.8 fm.
(2) For distances greater than 3 fm potential energy and hence nuclear force is practically zero. Thus, nuclear force is an extremely short range force.