On Jan 3, 10:19 am, Traveler wrote:
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.

Of course, in your model, the hydrogen atom would radiate all the
time, while the electron oscillates back and forth. This would quickly
run into a problem with energy conservation, but never mind.

What would you say about that, Louis?

[wait for it... wait for it... ]


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?


Congratulations, Louis, you've uncovered the strong nuclear force,
about 110 years after Rutherford asked the same interesting question.
If you keep this up, you'll be caught up somewhere around the summer
of 2478.