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.
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