>>11591412Nucleons are bosons so they also fill orbitals different than electrons. they’re also made up of quarks, which interact via a different force.
The approximation the anon was referring to is the Born-Oppenheimer approximation which assumes the nuclei move much slower than the electrons so they can be fixed charges during calculation. This makes it easier to calculate because, like the other anon said, you then only have to consider the electrons around the molecule and the forces they exert on each other (Feynman force) and the nuclei (Ehrenfest force).
Also, you don’t hear about nuclear orbitals because nuclear physics is 1) less useful than chemistry which is almost entirely dependent on electrons and 2) the theory involved is not as well understood as quantum mechanics and is more difficult to explain.
