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lobstertrap · Aug 6, 2010, 06:29 PM

It is my understanding that the Strong Force in an atom is to keep the atom from flying apart due to the natural rejection protons, being of like charge, have for each other. But the Hydrogen nucleus has ONLY ONE proton, so does the Hydrogen atom contain a Strong Force? After all, if there's no other proton to repel each other why would the Strong Force be necessary in the Hydrogen nucleus?

Unknown008 · Aug 7, 2010, 01:02 AM

If you compare the binding energy (this is how I was taught to call it) of hydrogen with that of iron and uranium, you will find that it is much smaller than those two latter elements.

This is because hydrogen contains only one proton.

Now, I know that there is still some mass defect and what I think is that this mass is converted into energy to keep the atom stable. Electrons and protons attract each other and I think that this energy prevents them from colliding.

[note that I may be wrong on this last statement, it is only a thought from my part.]

lobstertrap · Aug 8, 2010, 08:55 AM

Well there is mass defect in every stable Atom because if you measure the mass of a nucleus, then measure the masses of its constiuent parts separately and total them, the mass of the entire nucleus is less than the total of the masses of its parts measured separately then totalled. This here difference in mass is the Mass Deficit, and the Binding Energy is the energy equivalent of the mass deficit under Einstein's E=mc2. That is to say, the binding energy of a nucleus of an atom is the mass deficit X the speed of light squared. That is why the energy in a grain of salt would blow your whole house up if it were released, because the mass is multiplied times the speed of light squared and the speed of light, especially when squared, is humungous. therefore so is the energy released from even a very small mass. But if a Hydrogen Atom has the Strong Force I do not know.

Unknown008 · Aug 8, 2010, 09:12 AM

Well, according to wikipedia, the bonding force in Hydrogen is $0 \pm 0 keV$

The mass of proton is :1.007 276 466 77 u
That of hydrogen is: 1.007 825 u

And u being: $1.660538782 \times 10^{-27}$

This gives $\Delta m = 0.000549 \times 10^{-27} (3\times 10^8)^2$

The order of difference here is 10^-11 J, so, it's not this big of energy.

Unknown008 · Aug 9, 2010, 06:37 AM

I'm sorry, I was using a skin of the forum which is still under test (I'm among the ones who are testing it) and there was a bug with the numbers which didn't insert the numbers well.

Here it is:

$\Delta m = (1.007 276 466 77 - 1.007 825)u \times (3\times 10^8)^2 = (0.0009109\times 10^{-27}) \times (3\times 10^8)^2 \approx 0$