From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A
proton
is part of an
atom
.
[1]
They are found in the
nucleus
of an atom along with
neutrons
.
[1]
The
periodic table
groups atoms according to how many protons they have. A single atom of
hydrogen
(the lightest kind of atom) is made up of an
electron
moving around a proton. Most of the
mass
of this atom is in the proton, which is almost 2000 times heavier than the electron. Protons and
neutrons
make up the nucleus of every other kind of atom. In any one
element
, the number of protons is always the same. Scientists discovered in the early 20th century that an atom's
atomic
number is equal to the number of protons in that atom.
Protons are made of
quarks
.
[1]
A proton is believed to be made up of 3 quarks, two
up quarks
and one
down quark
.
[1]
One down quark has a
charge
of -1/3, and two up quarks have a charge of +2/3 each. This adds to a charge of +1. A proton has a very small
mass
. The mass of the proton is about one
atomic mass unit
. The mass of the neutron is also about one atomic mass unit. The size of a proton is determined by the vibration of the quarks that are in it, and these quarks effectively form a cloud. This means that a proton is not so much a hard ball as an area that contains quarks.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Proton
.
- ↑
1.0
1.1
1.2
1.3
Cox, Brian; Cohen, Andrew (2011).
Wonders of the Universe
. HarperCollins. p.
108
-109.
ISBN
9780007395828
.