Hi,
Not necessarily on the level of a 5 year old, but would be great if anybody could explain this on the level of a mid-schooler.
I learned about the instability of nucleus and found out that the difference in the number of Protons and Neutrons, both being more or less than the other turns a nucleus unstable.
The Proton here makes sense. As having less Neutrons leads to less force to bind the Protons together in the Nucleus, resulting in the Proton’s repulsion force overpowering it and turning the nucleus “Unstable”
But by the same logic, having more Neutrons would then result in a stronger force to bind the Protons, thus making it harder for the repulsive force of the Protons to succeed here.
But even those nuclei somehow manage to turn unstable. How?
I searched forums and they brought up advanced stuff to explain this thing that were clear as mud to me.
Can anybody on this subreddit explain it to me in the simplest manner? Or is it something that must require further knowledge to be understood?
If so, can you tell me what do I need to learn about first?
Thanks a lot
In: 6
Imagine holding a foam cup in your hand. As long as you squeeze lightly, it is no problem. But what happens if you squeeze very hard? You end up squeezing the cup hard enough to rip it, possibly ripping it to pieces.
Adding more neutrons is kind of like that. At a certain point, you’re squeezing so hard that you rip the nucleus apart into smaller, more stable nuclei.
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