the.com/neutron
the universe's quiet enforcer, holding atoms together while taking none of the credit.
means A subatomic particle with no electric charge that, together with protons, makes up the nucleus of an atom.
from Coined in the 1920s from 'neutral' plus the '-on' ending that physics had adopted for its particle zoo (electron, proton). The '-on' itself drifted in from words like 'ion' — Greek for 'going' — until it simply became the suffix you slap on anything small and fundamental. So 'neutron' is, quite literally, 'the neutral one,' named for what it refuses to do: carry a charge. James Chadwick confirmed its existence experimentally in the early 1930s, but the name had been waiting in the wings before the particle was even pinned down.
- lifespan
- free ones decay in about 15 minutes
- discovery
- James Chadwick nailed it in 1932
- no charge
- electrically neutral, hence the name
- density
- a teaspoon of neutron star weighs billions of tons
- heavier
- slightly more massive than a proton
neutron star — psr b1919+21, discovered 1967, spins 1.337 times per second with mass of 1.4 suns
free neutron decay — half-life of 879.65 seconds when isolated outside nucleus