Core of an atom; composed of nucleons (protons and neutrons)
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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.
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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. After the discovery of the neutron in 1932, models for a nucleus composed of protons and neutrons were quickly developed by Dmitri Ivanenko[1] and Werner Heisenberg.[2][3][4][5][6] An atom is composed of a positively charged nucleus, with a cloud of negatively charged electrons surrounding it, bound together by electrostatic force. Almost all of the mass of an atom is located in the nucleus, with a very small contribution from the electron cloud. Protons and neutrons are bound together to form a nucleus by the nuclear force.
The diameter of the nucleus is in the range of 1.70 fm (1.70×10−15 m[7]) for hydrogen (the diameter of a single proton) to about 11.7 fm for uranium.[8] These dimensions are much smaller than the diameter of the atom itself (nucleus + electron cloud), by a factor of about 26,634 (uranium atomic radius is about 156 pm (156×10−12 m))[9] to about 60,250 (hydrogen atomic radius is about 52.92 pm).[a]
The branch of physics concerned with the study and understanding of the atomic nucleus, including its composition and the forces that bind it together, is called nuclear physics.
^Heisenberg, W. (1932). "Über den Bau der Atomkerne. I". Z. Phys.77 (1–2): 1–11. Bibcode:1932ZPhy...77....1H. doi:10.1007/BF01342433. S2CID 186218053.
^Heisenberg, W. (1932). "Über den Bau der Atomkerne. II". Z. Phys. 78 (3–4): 156–164. Bibcode:1932ZPhy...78..156H. doi:10.1007/BF01337585. S2CID 186221789.
^Heisenberg, W. (1933). "Über den Bau der Atomkerne. III". Z. Phys. 80 (9–10): 587–596. Bibcode:1933ZPhy...80..587H. doi:10.1007/BF01335696. S2CID 126422047.
^Miller A. I. Early Quantum Electrodynamics: A Sourcebook, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995, ISBN 0521568919, pp. 84–88.
^Fernandez, Bernard & Ripka, Georges (2012). "Nuclear Theory After the Discovery of the Neutron". Unravelling the Mystery of the Atomic Nucleus: A Sixty Year Journey 1896 — 1956. Springer. p. 263. ISBN 9781461441809.
^Castelvecchi (November 7, 2019). "How big is the proton? Particle-size puzzle leaps closer to resolution". Nature. 575 (7782): 269–270. Bibcode:2019Natur.575..269C. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-03432-4. PMID 31719693. S2CID 207938065. Archived from the original on November 7, 2021. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
^Angeli, I., Marinova, K.P. (January 10, 2013). "Table of experimental nuclear ground state charge radii: An update" (PDF). Atomic Data and Nuclear Data Tables. 99 (1): 69–95. Bibcode:2013ADNDT..99...69A. doi:10.1016/j.adt.2011.12.006. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 3, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2021.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^""Uranium" IDC Technologies" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on May 7, 2018. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
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The atomicnucleus is the small, dense region consisting of protons and neutrons at the center of an atom, discovered in 1911 by Ernest Rutherford based...
The atomic number or nuclear charge number (symbol Z) of a chemical element is the charge number of an atomicnucleus. For ordinary nuclei composed of...
are attracted to the protons in an atomicnucleus by the electromagnetic force. The protons and neutrons in the nucleus are attracted to each other by the...
The shape of the atomicnucleus been depicted as a compact bundle of the two types of nucleons that look like little balls stuck together, protons (red)...
rules for the ordering of the nucleus shells are similar to Hund's Rules of the atomic shells, however, unlike its use in atomic physics, the completion of...
up nucleus in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Nucleus (pl.: nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to: Atomic nucleus...
nucleons) in an atomicnucleus. It is approximately equal to the atomic (also known as isotopic) mass of the atom expressed in atomic mass units. Since...
behave similarly within the nucleus, they are both referred to as nucleons. Nucleons have a mass of approximately one atomic mass unit, or dalton (symbol:...
containing most of the atom's mass; this region would be known as the atomicnucleus. The Rutherford model was subsequently superseded by the Bohr model...
The atomic radius of a chemical element is a measure of the size of its atom, usually the mean or typical distance from the center of the nucleus to the...
Atomic physics is the field of physics that studies atoms as an isolated system of electrons and an atomicnucleus. Atomic physics typically refers to...
that the charge of an atomicnucleus, expressed as a multiplier of hydrogen's nuclear charge (e), is roughly half the atom's atomic weight, based on how...
hydrogen atom, and the atomic number had been identified as the charge on the nucleus.: §1.1.2 Throughout the 1920s, the nucleus was viewed as composed...
the structure of the atomicnucleus is one of the central challenges in nuclear physics. The cluster model describes the nucleus as a molecule-like collection...
the 6 3Li nucleus has a standard atomic weight of 6.015 atomic mass units (abbreviated u), the deuterium has 2.014 u, and the helium-4 nucleus has 4.0026...
possibility of atomic energy. H. G. Wells popularized the phrase "splitting the atom",[citation needed] before discovery of the atomicnucleus. Atomic energy...
is used to predict the configuration of protons and neutrons in an atomicnucleus. In neutral atoms, the approximate order in which subshells are filled...
an atomicnucleus, e.g. a helium-4 nucleus is composed of two protons and two neutrons. Most hadrons do not live long enough to bind into nucleus-like...
atom became clearer with Ernest Rutherford's 1911 discovery that of an atomicnucleus surrounded by electrons in which he quoted Nagaoka rejected Thomson's...
physics, beta decay (β-decay) is a type of radioactive decay in which an atomicnucleus emits a beta particle (fast energetic electron or positron), transforming...
decay in which an atomicnucleus emits an alpha particle (helium nucleus) and thereby transforms or "decays" into a different atomicnucleus, with a mass number...
the element's atomic number. For example, oxygen has an atomic number of 8, meaning that each oxygen atom has 8 protons in its nucleus. Two or more atoms...
of the electron in 1897, but before Ernest Rutherford discovered the atomicnucleus in 1911. The model tried to account for two properties of atoms then...
disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomicnucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is...
"atmosphere" (the electron), distributed around a relatively tiny planet (the nucleus). Atomic orbitals exactly describe the shape of this "atmosphere" only when...
high-speed electron or positron emitted by the radioactive decay of an atomicnucleus during the process of beta decay. There are two forms of beta decay...
strong as gravitation. In the context of atomic nuclei, the force binds protons and neutrons together to form a nucleus and is called the nuclear force (or...
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