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Strong interaction or strong nuclear force is a fundamental interaction that confines quarks into proton, neutron, and other hadron particles. The strong interaction also binds neutrons and protons to create atomic nuclei, where it is called the nuclear force.
Most of the mass of a common proton or neutron is the result of the strong interaction energy; the individual quarks provide only about 1% of the mass of a proton. At the range of 10 m , the strong force is approximately 137 times as strong as electromagnetism, 10 times as strong as the weak interaction, and 10 times as strong as gravitation.
The strong interaction is observable at two ranges and mediated by two force carriers. On a larger scale , it is the force that binds protons and neutrons together to form the nucleus of an atom. On the smaller scale , it is the force that holds quarks together to form protons, neutrons, and other hadron particles. In the latter context, it is often known as the color force. The strong force inherently has such a high strength that hadrons bound by the strong force can produce new massive particles. Thus, if hadrons are struck by high-energy particles, they give rise to new hadrons instead of emitting freely moving radiation. This property of the strong force is called color confinement, and it prevents the free "emission" of the strong force: instead, in practice, jets of massive particles are produced.
In the context of atomic nuclei, the same strong interaction force also binds protons and neutrons together to form a nucleus. In this capacity it is called the nuclear force. So the residuum from the strong interaction within protons and neutrons also binds nuclei together. As such, the residual strong interaction obeys a distance-dependent behavior between nucleons that is quite different from that when it is acting to bind quarks within nucleons. Additionally, distinctions exist in the binding energies of the nuclear force of nuclear fusion vs nuclear fission. Nuclear fusion accounts for most energy production in the Sun and other stars. Nuclear fission allows for decay of radioactive elements and isotopes, although it is often mediated by the weak interaction. Artificially, the energy associated with the nuclear force is partially released in nuclear power and nuclear weapons, both in uranium or plutonium-based fission weapons and in fusion weapons like the hydrogen bomb.