On Tue, 1 Jan 2008 22:46:44 -0800 (PST), malibu
wrote:

If you can't explain it to a 10 year-old, you
don't know it.

This is so true. To answer the original poster's question:

What is repulsing protons and electrons?

Nothing, IMO. As the electrons in an atom oscillate back and forth,
they go right through the nucleus. These oscilations are responsible
for the charateristic EM spectrum of the atom. The traditional
orbiting model of the atom is hogwash, IMO.

They behave as if they are the same charge.

Actually no. If they had the same charge, they would not stay together
at all. The more interesting question is, how do protons stay together
in the nucleus?

Louis Savain

Why Software Is Bad and What We Can Do to Fix It:
http://www.rebelscience.org/Cosas/Reliability.htm