Which force is responsible for overcoming the repulsion between protons in the nucleus?
**Nuclear force** strong, short-range ~1 fm, attractive, charge independent, saturated in large nuclei because each nucleon interacts only with neighbors, not all others, so BE/A saturates ~8 MeV, primary factor limiting stable nuclei size is Coulomb repulsion between protons growing as Z² vs strong force saturating, beyond Z≈83 no stable nuclei, competition between Coulomb and strong. The nuclear force, being much stronger than the Coulomb force, binds protons and neutrons together, overcoming the electrostatic repulsion between positively charged protons. Using E_n = -13.6/n² eV, r_n = n² a₀
Ref: NCERT > Physics Book > Atoms and Nuclei > Radioactive Decay, Nuclear Forces and Stability