  In this work we discuss a novel approach to model the hadronic and nuclear
matter equations of state using the induced surface tension concept. Since the
obtained equations of state, classical and quantum, are among the most
successful ones in describing the properties of low density phases of strongly
interacting matter, they set strong restrictions on the possible value of the
hard-core radius of nucleons. Therefore, we perform a detailed analysis of its
value which follows from hadronic and nuclear matter properties and find the
most trustworthy range of its values: the hard-core radius of nucleons is
0.30--0.36 fm. A comparison with the phenomenology of neutron stars implies
that the hard-core radius of nucleons has to be temperature and density
dependent.
