A report on Proton

The quark content of a proton. The color assignment of individual quarks is arbitrary, but all three colors must be present. Forces between quarks are mediated by gluons.

Ernest Rutherford at the first Solvay Conference, 1911

Proton detected in an isopropanol cloud chamber

Stable subatomic particle, symbol, H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1e elementary charge.

- Proton

89 related topics with Alpha

Electron

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Subatomic particle whose electric charge is negative one elementary charge.

A beam of electrons deflected in a circle by a magnetic field

The Bohr model of the atom, showing states of an electron with energy quantized by the number n. An electron dropping to a lower orbit emits a photon equal to the energy difference between the orbits.

In quantum mechanics, the behavior of an electron in an atom is described by an orbital, which is a probability distribution rather than an orbit. In the figure, the shading indicates the relative probability to "find" the electron, having the energy corresponding to the given quantum numbers, at that point.

Standard Model of elementary particles. The electron (symbol e) is on the left.

Example of an antisymmetric wave function for a quantum state of two identical fermions in a 1-dimensional box. If the particles swap position, the wave function inverts its sign.

A schematic depiction of virtual electron–positron pairs appearing at random near an electron (at lower left)

A particle with charge q (at left) is moving with velocity v through a magnetic field B that is oriented toward the viewer. For an electron, q is negative so it follows a curved trajectory toward the top.

Here, Bremsstrahlung is produced by an electron e deflected by the electric field of an atomic nucleus. The energy change E2 − E1 determines the frequency f of the emitted photon.

Probability densities for the first few hydrogen atom orbitals, seen in cross-section. The energy level of a bound electron determines the orbital it occupies, and the color reflects the probability of finding the electron at a given position.

A lightning discharge consists primarily of a flow of electrons. The electric potential needed for lightning can be generated by a triboelectric effect.

Lorentz factor as a function of velocity. It starts at value 1 and goes to infinity as v approaches c.

Pair production of an electron and positron, caused by the close approach of a photon with an atomic nucleus. The lightning symbol represents an exchange of a virtual photon, thus an electric force acts. The angle between the particles is very small.

An extended air shower generated by an energetic cosmic ray striking the Earth's atmosphere

Aurorae are mostly caused by energetic electrons precipitating into the atmosphere.

During a NASA wind tunnel test, a model of the Space Shuttle is targeted by a beam of electrons, simulating the effect of ionizing gases during re-entry.

The electron's mass is approximately 1836 times smaller than that of the proton.

Neutron

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Nuclear fission caused by absorption of a neutron by uranium-235. The heavy nuclide fragments into lighter components and additional neutrons.

Models depicting the nucleus and electron energy levels in hydrogen, helium, lithium, and neon atoms. In reality, the diameter of the nucleus is about 100,000 times smaller than the diameter of the atom.

A schematic of the nucleus of an atom indicating radiation, the emission of a fast electron from the nucleus (the accompanying antineutrino is omitted). In the Rutherford model for the nucleus, red spheres were protons with positive charge and blue spheres were protons tightly bound to an electron with no net charge.
The inset shows beta decay of a free neutron as it is understood today; an electron and antineutrino are created in this process.

The Feynman diagram for beta decay of a neutron into a proton, electron, and electron antineutrino via an intermediate heavy W boson

The leading-order Feynman diagram for decay of a proton into a neutron, positron, and electron neutrino via an intermediate boson.

Institut Laue–Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble, France – a major neutron research facility.

Cold neutron source providing neutrons at about the temperature of liquid hydrogen

The fusion reaction rate increases rapidly with temperature until it maximizes and then gradually drops off. The D–T rate peaks at a lower temperature (about 70 keV, or 800 million kelvins) and at a higher value than other reactions commonly considered for fusion energy.

Transmutation flow in light water reactor, which is a thermal-spectrum reactor

The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or, which has a neutral (not positive or negative) charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton.

Atom

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Smallest unit of ordinary matter that forms a chemical element.

The Geiger–Marsden experiment:
Left: Expected results: alpha particles passing through the plum pudding model of the atom with negligible deflection.
Right: Observed results: a small portion of the particles were deflected by the concentrated positive charge of the nucleus.

The Bohr model of the atom, with an electron making instantaneous "quantum leaps" from one orbit to another with gain or loss of energy. This model of electrons in orbits is obsolete.

The binding energy needed for a nucleon to escape the nucleus, for various isotopes

A potential well, showing, according to classical mechanics, the minimum energy V(x) needed to reach each position x. Classically, a particle with energy E is constrained to a range of positions between x1 and x2.

3D views of some hydrogen-like atomic orbitals showing probability density and phase (g orbitals and higher are not shown)

This diagram shows the half-life (T½) of various isotopes with Z protons and N neutrons.

These electron's energy levels (not to scale) are sufficient for ground states of atoms up to cadmium (5s2 4d10) inclusively. Do not forget that even the top of the diagram is lower than an unbound electron state.

An example of absorption lines in a spectrum

Graphic illustrating the formation of a Bose–Einstein condensate

Scanning tunneling microscope image showing the individual atoms making up this gold (100) surface. The surface atoms deviate from the bulk crystal structure and arrange in columns several atoms wide with pits between them (See surface reconstruction).

Periodic table showing the origin of each element. Elements from carbon up to sulfur may be made in small stars by the alpha process. Elements beyond iron are made in large stars with slow neutron capture (s-process). Elements heavier than iron may be made in neutron star mergers or supernovae after the r-process.

The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons.

A model of the atomic nucleus showing it as a compact bundle of the two types of nucleons: protons (red) and neutrons (blue). In this diagram, protons and neutrons look like little balls stuck together, but an actual nucleus (as understood by modern nuclear physics) cannot be explained like this, but only by using quantum mechanics. In a nucleus that occupies a certain energy level (for example, the ground state), each nucleon can be said to occupy a range of locations.

The atomic nucleus is the small, dense region consisting of protons and neutrons at the center of an atom, discovered in 1911 by Ernest Rutherford based on the 1909 Geiger–Marsden gold foil experiment.

Quark

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Type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter.

Six of the particles in the Standard Model are quarks (shown in purple). Each of the first three columns forms a generation of matter.

Photograph of the event that led to the discovery of the baryon, at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1974

Feynman diagram of beta decay with time flowing upwards. The CKM matrix (discussed below) encodes the probability of this and other quark decays.

The strengths of the weak interactions between the six quarks. The "intensities" of the lines are determined by the elements of the CKM matrix.

All types of hadrons have zero total color charge.

The pattern of strong charges for the three colors of quark, three antiquarks, and eight gluons (with two of zero charge overlapping).

Current quark masses for all six flavors in comparison, as balls of proportional volumes. Proton (gray) and electron (red) are shown in bottom left corner for scale.

A qualitative rendering of the phase diagram of quark matter. The precise details of the diagram are the subject of ongoing research.

Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nuclei.

Deuterium

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One of two stable isotopes of hydrogen (the other being protium, or hydrogen-1).

Ionized deuterium in a fusor reactor giving off its characteristic pinkish-red glow

Emission spectrum of an ultraviolet deuterium arc lamp

The "Sausage" device casing of the Ivy Mike H bomb, attached to instrumentation and cryogenic equipment. The 20-ft-tall bomb held a cryogenic Dewar flask with room for 160 kg of liquid deuterium.

The nucleus of a deuterium atom, called a deuteron, contains one proton and one neutron, whereas the far more common protium has no neutrons in the nucleus.

Elementary particle

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Elementary particle or fundamental particle is a subatomic particle that is not composed of other particles.

Subatomic constituents of the atom were first identified in the early 1930s; the electron and the proton, along with the photon, the particle of electromagnetic radiation.

Hadron

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Composite subatomic particle made of two or more quarks held together by the strong interaction.

All types of hadrons have zero total color charge (three examples shown)

Most of the mass of ordinary matter comes from two hadrons: the proton and the neutron, while most of the mass of the protons and neutrons is in turn due to the binding energy of their constituent quarks, due to the strong force.

Hydrogen

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Chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1.

Depiction of a hydrogen atom with size of central proton shown, and the atomic diameter shown as about twice the Bohr model radius (image not to scale)

Hydrogen gas is colorless and transparent, here contained in a glass ampoule.

Phase diagram of hydrogen. The temperature and pressure scales are logarithmic, so one unit corresponds to a 10x change. The left edge corresponds to 105 Pa, which is about atmospheric pressure.

Hydrogen emission spectrum lines in the visible range. These are the four visible lines of the Balmer series

NGC 604, a giant region of ionized hydrogen in the Triangulum Galaxy

For the most common isotope of hydrogen (symbol 1H) each atom has one proton, one electron, and no neutrons.

Chemical element

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$Estimated distribution of dark matter and dark energy in the universe. Only the fraction of the mass and energy in the universe labeled "atoms" is composed of chemical elements.$

Periodic table showing the cosmogenic origin of each element in the Big Bang, or in large or small stars. Small stars can produce certain elements up to sulfur, by the alpha process. Supernovae are needed to produce "heavy" elements (those beyond iron and nickel) rapidly by neutron buildup, in the r-process. Certain large stars slowly produce other elements heavier than iron, in the s-process; these may then be blown into space in the off-gassing of planetary nebulae

Abundances of the chemical elements in the Solar System. Hydrogen and helium are most common, from the Big Bang. The next three elements (Li, Be, B) are rare because they are poorly synthesized in the Big Bang and also in stars. The two general trends in the remaining stellar-produced elements are: (1) an alternation of abundance in elements as they have even or odd atomic numbers (the Oddo-Harkins rule), and (2) a general decrease in abundance as elements become heavier. Iron is especially common because it represents the minimum energy nuclide that can be made by fusion of helium in supernovae.

Mendeleev's 1869 periodic table: An experiment on a system of elements. Based on their atomic weights and chemical similarities.

A chemical element is a species of atoms that have a given number of protons in their nuclei, including the pure substance consisting only of that species.