Page 44 - A Chain of Miracles

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A A Chain of Miracles

the universe. Its great power can be unleashed by detonating
atomic or hydrogen bombs. This source of energy has been fuel-
ing the Sun for the past 4.5 billion years and has been calculated
to continue to do so for another five billion years. The mathe-
matical value of this extraordinary force is one of the universe’s
most critical. Changes of a few percentage points to the value of
the strong nuclear force’s constant would have forestalled the
formation of carbon, the building block of life. Slightly higher
fluctuations would alter all present laws of physics and wreck
the harmony and order in the universe.
The balance between the strong nuclear force holding
atomic nuclei together and electromagnetism rests on the most
precise values.
Had the strong nuclear force been even slightly weaker, it
could not have held together the cluster of protons in the nuclei.

Strong nuclear
force is the
greatest univer-
sal force, which
holds together
neutrons and
protons in the
atomic nucleus.

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