Astronomers using simulated data have produced a glimpse of the sky as it would appear in gravitational waves, cosmic ripples in space-time generated by orbiting objects. The image shows how space-based gravitational wave ...
Astronomy
Sep 20, 2023
0
150
On Earth, continents are likely necessary to support life. Continents "float" on top of the Earth's viscous mantle, and heat from the planet's core keeps the mantle from solidifying and locking the continents into place.
Astronomy
Sep 20, 2023
0
8
When your wounds heal and your liver detoxifies a poison such as histamine you ingested, you can thank the class of enzymes known as copper amine oxidases for their assistance. Identifying the exact positions of the smallest ...
Biochemistry
Sep 20, 2023
0
8
Using the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) onboard the International Space Station (ISS), European astronomers have performed spectral analysis of a low-mass X-ray binary known as XTE J1810–189. Results ...
New research is challenging the scientific status quo on the limits of the nuclear chart in hot stellar environments where temperatures reach billions of degrees Celsius.
General Physics
Sep 18, 2023
0
46
A neutron star is 2 solar masses compressed into a ball only 12 kilometers wide. Its surface gravity is so immense it compresses atoms and molecules into raw nuclei and squeezes electrons into protons transforming them into ...
Astronomy
Sep 15, 2023
2
73
Dark matter is a keystone assumption in the current understanding of the universe. Yet, the elemental identity of dark matter is not known, and its future discovery remains a primary goal in the fields of cosmology and particle ...
Astronomy
Aug 30, 2023
1
67
Current gravitational wave observatories have two significant limitations. The first is that they can only observe powerful gravitational bursts such as the mergers of black holes and neutron stars. The second is that they ...
Astronomy
Aug 28, 2023
0
21
The restoration of artworks often involves solvents which have toxic properties. Now researchers have succeeded for the first time in creating a non-toxic and sustainable cleaning agent for paintings.
Biochemistry
Aug 17, 2023
0
47
Magnetic skyrmions, statically stable magnetic quasiparticles with a topological charge, have been the focus of numerous recent studies, as they could support the development of so-called spintronics. These devices, which ...
The neutron is a subatomic particle with no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton.
Neutrons are usually found in atomic nuclei. The nuclei of most atoms consist of protons and neutrons, which are therefore collectively referred to as nucleons. The number of protons in a nucleus is the atomic number and defines the type of element the atom forms. The number of neutrons determines the isotope of an element. For example, the carbon-12 isotope has 6 protons and 6 neutrons, while the carbon-14 isotope has 6 protons and 8 neutrons.
While bound neutrons in stable nuclei are stable, free neutrons are unstable; they undergo beta decay with a lifetime of just under 15 minutes (885.7 ± 0.8 s). Free neutrons are produced in nuclear fission and fusion. Dedicated neutron sources like research reactors and spallation sources produce free neutrons for the use in irradiation and in neutron scattering experiments.
Even though it is not a chemical element, the free neutron is sometimes included in tables of nuclides. It is then considered to have an atomic number of zero and a mass number of one.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
