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here's your shmoop du jour brought to you by physics teachers

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our physics teacher likes to say there are no dumb questions to which we say [Physics teacher in a classroom]

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challenge accepted alright a physics student asks her teacher how does the

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strong nuclear force work well how can the teacher respond to this and select

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two answers, here are the options.....

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well the strong force is what holds the nucleus of an atom [Protons and nucleus held together]

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together without it all those positively charged protons would run away from

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each other and the neutrons would well just sit there doing nothing for

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eternity all right put it that way your cousin Ryan might just be a giant [Ryan laying on couch]

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neutron all right but when these particles get close and we mean really

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close like 1 times 10 to the negative 15 meters close the strong force can bind

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them together and this is what allows there to be elements like gold...and

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mercury and oxygen right okay well we're big fans of those elements especially [People basking in the sun on a beach]

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that last one but when these nucleons are farther away from each other

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electromagnetism keeps them away from each other so answer A is incorrect

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right there and answer C is one of our correct choices in order to overcome the

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electromagnetic force and become bound together protons and neutrons have to be

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moving very quickly and we're not talking about race car speeds, physics [Woman wearing a lab coat on a road and race car bursts into flames]

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laughs at how slow race car goes hahaha we mean the kind of speeds found in a

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supernova when a star explodes really really really fast or to put it in

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scientific terms SuperDuper fast so B is the other correct choice right there and

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the strong force got its name for a reason it's the strongest of the four [Strong force flexing biceps]

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fundamental forces gravity is a puny weakling compared to the strong force

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especially in a scale of protons and neutrons so answer D is definitely out

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and remember if you're stumped don't be afraid to ask your physics teacher for

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help..Just make sure it's related to physics we asked our teacher for help

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changing a flat tire once and well it just didn't go over very well [Man with a flat tire and physics teacher laughing]

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