How does the residual strong force work? How does binding energy give mass and generate energy in nuclear reactions?

Question

Every source is way too complicated for me to understand how the residual strong force works (nuclear strong force) and along with that how come binding energy contribute

In: Physics

Answer 1

Residual strong force / nuclear force just refers to the force which holds the nucleus together. They stick together and don’t typically break apart so there must be a force doing that. We know that a force must be doing it because protons have positive charge, and like charges repel each other, so how a nucleus made of two protons, a.k.a. a helium atom, exist? They can exist because the residual strong force holds the nucleus together