The nuclear force (or nucleon–nucleon interaction or residual strong force) is the force between protons and neutrons, subatomic particles that are collectively called nucleons. The nuclear force is responsible for binding protons and neutrons into atomic nuclei. Neutrons and protons are affected by the nuclear force almost identically. Since protons have charge +1 e, they experience a strong electric field repulsion (following Coulomb's law) that tends to push them apart, but at short range the attractive nuclear force overcomes the repulsive electromagnetic force.
