How can the strong force be increased without increasing electric repulsion in a nucleus?

The strong force, also known as the strong nuclear force, is one of the four fundamental forces of nature and is responsible for holding protons and neutrons together in the nucleus of an atom. It is a short-range force that is much stronger than the electric repulsion between protons but only acts over very small distances.

Adding neutrons to the nucleus increases the strong force without increasing electric repulsion because neutrons do not carry an electric charge. While protons repel each other due to their positive charges, neutrons help to add to the overall attractive strong nuclear force without contributing to the electric repulsion. By providing additional attractive force without additional repulsion, neutrons increase the stability of the nucleus, especially in heavier elements where the ratio of neutrons to protons is critical for stability.

Options that involve adding protons or considering the number of electrons do not address the stability provided by neutrons in the context of strong and weak forces in the nucleus. Removing hydrogen atoms does not contribute directly to changing the balance of forces acting within a nucleus and refers instead to molecular structures involving hydrogen rather than the nuclear forces at play within atomic nuclei.