The Liquid Drop Model
This is one of the first models of nuclear structure, proposed by Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker in 1935. It describes the nucleus as a classical fluid made up of neutrons and protons, with an internal repulsive electric force proportional to the number of protons. The quantum mechanical nature of these particles appears via the Pauli exclusion principle, which states that no two nucleons of the same kind can be at the same state. Thus the fluid is actually what is known as a fermi fluid. This simple model reproduces the main features of the binding energy of nuclei.
Read more about this topic: Nuclear Structure
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