Atomic nucleus

The nucleus is the very dense region consisting of protons and neutrons at the center of an atom. It was discovered in 1911 as a
result of Ernest Rutherford's interpretation of the 1909 eiger!"arsden gold foil e#periment performed $y %ans
eiger and Ernest "arsden under Rutherford's direction. The proton!neutron model of nucleus was proposed $y &mitry
Ivanen'o in 19().
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Almost all of the mass of an atom is located in the nucleus, with a very small contri$ution from the electron
cloud.
The diameter of the nucleus is in the range of 1.-. fm /1.-.010
11.
m2 for hydrogen /the diameter of a single proton2
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given+
to a$out1. fm for the heaviest atoms, such as uranium. These dimensions are much smaller than the diameter of the atom
itself /nucleus 3 electron cloud2, $y a factor of a$out )(,000 /uranium2 to a$out 14.,000 /hydrogen2.
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The $ranch of physics concerned with studying and understanding the atomic nucleus, including its composition and the forces
which $ind it together, is called nuclear physics.
History
Main article: Rutherford model
The nucleus was discovered in 1911, as a result of Ernest Rutherford's efforts to test Thomson's 5plum pudding model5 of the
atom.
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The electron had already $een discovered earlier $y 6.6. Thomson himself, and 'nowing that atoms are neutral, Thomson
postulated that there must $e a positive charge as well. In his plum pudding model, Thomson stated that an atom consisted of
negative electrons randomly scattered within a sphere of positive charge. Ernest Rutherford later devised an e#periment that
involved the deflection of alpha particles at a thin sheet of metal foil. %e reasoned that if Thomson's model were correct, the
immense alpha particles would easily pass through the foil with very little deviation in their paths. To his surprise, many of the
particles were deflected at very large angles. 7ecause the mass of alpha particles is a$out 8000 times that of an electron, it
$ecame apparent that a very strong force was present that allowed the particles to $e deflected. %e reali9ed that the plum
pudding model could not $e accurate and that the deflections of the alpha particles could only $e caused $y a center of
concentrated charge that contained most of the atom's mass. Thus, the idea of a nuclear atom:an atom with a dense center of
positive charge:$ecame ;ustified.
Etymology
The term nucleus is from the <atin word nucleus, a diminutive of nux /5nut52, meaning the 'ernel /i.e., the 5small nut52 inside a
watery type of fruit /li'e a peach2. In 1844, "ichael =araday used the term to refer to the 5central point of an atom5. The modern
atomic meaning was proposed $y Ernest Rutherford in 191).
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The adoption of the term 5nucleus5 to atomic theory, however, was
not immediate. In 191>, for e#ample, il$ert ?. <ewis stated, in his famous article The Atom and the Molecule, that 5the atom is
composed of the kerneland an outer atom or shell5
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?eutron
The neutron is a su$atomic hadron particle that has the sym$ol n or n0, no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than
that of aproton. @ith the e#ception of hydrogenA1, nuclei of atoms consist of protons and neutrons, which are therefore
collectively referred to asnucleons. The num$er of protons in a nucleus is the atomic num$er and defines the type of element the
atom forms. ?eutrons are necessary within an atomic nucleus, as they $ind with protons via the nuclear forceB protons are una$le
to $ind with each other /seediproton2 $ecause their mutual electromagnetic repulsion is stronger than the attraction of the nuclear
force.
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The num$er of neutrons is the neutron num$er and determines the isotope of an element. =or e#ample, the
a$undant car$onA1) isotope has > protons and > neutrons, whereas the very rare radioactive car$onA14 isotope has > protons
and 8 neutrons.
@hile $ound neutrons in nuclei have the possi$ility to $e sta$le /depending on the nuclide2, free neutrons are unsta$leB they
undergo $eta decay with a mean lifetime of ;ust under 1. minutes /881..C1.. s2.
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=ree neutrons are produced in nuclear
fission and fusion. &edicatedneutron sources li'e neutron generators, research reactors and spallation sources produce free
neutrons for use in irradiation and in neutron scattering e#periments. Even though it is not a chemical element, the free neutron is
sometimes included in ta$les of nuclides.
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The neutron has $een the 'ey to nuclear power production. The neutron was discovered in 19(), and in 19((, it was reali9ed that
it might mediate a nuclear chain reaction. In the 19(0s, neutrons were used to produce many different types of nuclear
transmutations. @hennuclear fission was discovered in 19(8, it $ecame clear that, if the process also produced neutrons, this
might $e the mechanism to produce the neutrons for a chain reaction. This was proven in 19(9, opening the path to nuclear
power production. These events and findings led directly to the first selfAsustaining, manAmade, nuclear chain reaction /Dhicago
EileA1, 194)2 and to the first nuclear weapons/194.2.
&iscovery
In 19)0, Ernest Rutherford conceived the possi$le e#istence of the neutron.
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In particular, Rutherford considered that the
disparity found $etween the atomic num$er of an atom and its atomic mass could $e e#plained $y the e#istence of a neutrally
charged particle within the atomic nucleus. %e considered the neutron to $e a neutral dou$le consisting of an electron or$iting a
proton.
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Through the 19)0s, physicists had generally accepted an /incorrect2 model of the atomic nucleus as composed of protons
and electrons.
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It was 'nown that atomic nuclei usually had a$out half as many positive charges than if they were composed
completely of protons, and in e#isting models this was often e#plained $y proposing that nuclei also contained some 5nuclear
electrons5 to neutrali9e the e#cess charge. Thus, the nitrogenA14 nucleus would $e composed of 14 protons and - electrons to
give it a charge of 3- $ut a mass of 14 atomic mass units.
The new Fuantum mechanics implied that a particle as light as the electron could not $e contained in a region as small as the
nucleus with any reasona$le energy. In 19(0 Gi'tor Am$artsumianand &mitri Ivanen'o in HIIR found that, contrary to the
prevailing opinion of the time, the nucleus cannot consist of protons and electrons. They proved that some neutral particles must
$e present $esides the protons.
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In 19(1, @alther 7othe and %er$ert 7ec'er in ermany found that if the very energetic alpha particles emitted from polonium fell
on certain light elements, specifically $eryllium, $oron, or lithium, an unusually penetrating radiation was produced. At first this
radiation was thought to $e gamma radiation, although it was more penetrating than any gamma rays 'nown, and the details of
e#perimental results were very difficult to interpret on this $asis.
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The ne#t important contri$ution was reported in 19()
$y IrJne 6oliotADurie and =rKdKric 6oliot in Earis.
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They showed that if this un'nown radiation fell on paraffin, or any
other hydrogenAcontaining compound, it e;ected protons of very high energy. This was not in itself inconsistent with the assumed
gamma ray nature of the new radiation, $ut detailed Fuantitative analysis of the data $ecame increasingly difficult to reconcile
with such a hypothesis.
In 19(), 6ames Dhadwic' performed a series of e#periments at the Hniversity of Dam$ridge, showing that the gamma ray
hypothesis was untena$le.
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%e suggested that the new radiation consisted of uncharged particles of appro#imately the mass of
the proton, and he performed a series of e#periments verifying his suggestion.
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These uncharged particles were
called neutrons, apparently from the <atin root for neutral and the ree' ending -on /$y imitation of electron and proton2.
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