TOPIC : PROTONS AND NEUTRONS

DISCOVERY OF PROTON
Even before the electron was identified, E.
Goldstein in 1886 discovered the presence of new
radiations in a gas discharge and called them canal
rays. These rays were positively charged radiations
which ultimately led to the discovery of another
sub-atomic particle. This sub-atomic particle had a
charge, equal in magnitude but opposite in sign to
that of the electron. Its mass was approximately
2000 times as that of the electron. It was given the
name of proton.
 A proton is represented as p+. The mass of a
proton is taken as one unit and its charge as plus
one.
For example , the term proton refers to the
hydrogen ion, H+.
Since the atomic number of hydrogen is 1, a
hydrogen ion has no electrons and corresponds to
a bare nucleus, consisting of a proton (and 0
neutrons for the most abundant isotope protium).
The proton is a "bare charge" with only about
1/64,000 of the radius of a hydrogen atom, and so is
extremely reactive chemically.
 DISCOVERY OF NEUTRON
For four years, James Chadwick was a prisoner of
war in Germany. When World War I ended, he
returned to his native England to rejoin the
mentor of his undergraduate days, Ernest
Rutherford.

In 1919 Rutherford had discovered the proton, a

positively charged particle within the atom's
nucleus. But they and other researchers were
finding that the proton did not seem to be the
only particle in the nucleus.
 As they studied atomic disintegration, they kept
seeing that the atomic number was less than
the atomic mass . Since electrons have almost
no mass, it seemed that something besides the
protons in the nucleus were adding to the mass.
Chadwick kept the problem in the back of his
mind while working on other things.
Experiments in Europe caught his eye,
especially those of Frederic and Irene Joliot-
Curie. They used a different method for
tracking particle radiation.
 Chadwick repeated their experiments but with the goal
of looking for a neutral particle -- one with the same
mass as a proton, but with zero charge. His experiments
were successful.
He was able to determine that the neutron did exist
and that its mass was about 0.1 percent more than the
proton's. He published his findings with characteristic
modesty in a first paper entitled "Possible Existence of
Neutron." In 1935 he received the Nobel Prize for his
discovery.
 In 1930 it was discovered that Beryllium, when
bombarded by alpha particles, emitted a very
energetic stream of radiation. Like gamma rays, these
rays were extremely penetrating and since they were
not deflected upon passing through a magnetic field,
neutral.
However, unlike gamma rays, these rays did not
discharge charged electroscopes (the photo electric
effect).
Irene Curie and her husband discovered that when a
beam of this radiation hit a substance rich in protons,
for example paraffin, protons were knocked loose
which could be easily detected by a Geiger counter.
 In 1932, Chadwick proposed that this particle was
Rutherford's neutron. In 1935, he was awarded
the Nobel Prize for his discovery. Using kinematics,
Chadwick was able to determine the velocity of the
protons. Then through conservation of momentum
techniques, he was able to determine that the mass
of the neutral radiation was almost exactly the
same as that of a proton.
 Protons and neutrons, each with mass
approximately one atomic mass unit, constitute
the nucleus of an atom, and they are collectively
referred to as nucleons.
The nucleus consists of Z protons, where Z is called
the atomic number, and N neutrons, where N is
the neutron number. The atomic number defines
the chemical properties of the atom, and the
neutron number determines the isotope or
nuclide.
 The terms isotope and nuclide are often
used synonymously , but they refer to chemical and
nuclear properties, respectively. The atomic mass
number, symbol A, equals Z+N.
For example, carbon has atomic number 6, and its
abundant carbon-12 isotope has 6 neutrons,
whereas its rare carbon-13 isotope has 7 neutrons.
Some elements occur in nature with only one stable
isotope, such as fluorine ( stable nuclide). Other
elements occur as many stable isotopes, such
as tin with ten stable isotopes.