More than a century ago, physicists discovered that mass is concentrated in a small, dense region at the center of atoms. However, the electrostatic repulsion between the positive particles of the atomic nucleus should break it apart. To solve this dichotomy, a stronger attractive force was proposed. Since then, decades of experimentation have gradually expanded our understanding of nuclear physics and revealed further mysteries. Despite this progress, a theory for the strong force using established physical laws consistent with these observations has yet to emerge. A mistaken consensus regarding nucleon composition during a crucial stage in the early development of particle physics could be the cause. This paper outlines how an alternate nucleon composition provides the geometric framework necessary for existing physical laws to accurately predict the strong force and other phenomena consistent with experimental results.