The Stuff that Nuclei Are Made Of Water, like all of the other matter surrounding us, is either solid, liquid, or gaseous depending on its temperature and pressure. Indeed, GSI researchers were recently able to provide convincing evidence for the long sought-after phase transition from liquid to gaseous nuclear matter. Almost all of an atom's matter is located in the nucleus.
Atomic nuclei are thus unimaginably dense compared to chemical elements or chemical compounds.
In fact, in many ways, atomic nuclei behave very much like drops of liquid. If we pursue this line of investigation, it isn't long before we are confronted by an interesting question. The physicist's response to such a question is to try to solve a more general question - that of the equation of state of nuclear matter, which links the thermodynamic variables of pressure, density and temperature. Here, the density and temperature of the nuclear matter can be varied over wide ranges and under controlled conditions. Careful and precise study of the resulting processes occurring provides insight into the properties of such hot and compressed nuclear matter.