Fission is the process of emitting particles from an unstable radioactive nucleus. This releases quite a bit of energy. Suppose you wanted to instead add a particle, such as a proton, to a nucleus. This is difficult as the electric force the proton feels from the nucleus will tend to repel the proton. If you fired a proton directly towards an iron nucleus, what is the magnitude in Newtons of the force the proton would feel if it is 2 fm from the surface of the iron nucleus?
Assumptions
\(k=9 \times 10^9\)
Model an iron nucleus as a sphere of radius 3 fm.
by
David Mattingly
