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[7]: 4 The terms isotope and nuclide are often used synonymously, but they refer to chemical and nuclear properties, respectively. [7]: 4 Isotopes are nuclides with the same atomic number, but different neutron number. Nuclides with the same neutron number, but different atomic number, are called isotones. [8]
A neutron in free state is an unstable particle, with a half-life around ten minutes. It undergoes β − decay (a type of radioactive decay) by turning into a proton while emitting an electron and an electron antineutrino. This reaction can occur because the mass of the neutron is slightly greater than that of the proton.
This glossary of chemistry terms is a list of terms and definitions relevant to chemistry, including chemical laws, diagrams and formulae, laboratory tools, glassware, and equipment. Chemistry is a physical science concerned with the composition, structure, and properties of matter , as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions ...
Since protons and neutrons are both baryons, the mass number A is identical with the baryon number B of the nucleus (and also of the whole atom or ion). The mass number is different for each isotope of a given chemical element , and the difference between the mass number and the atomic number Z gives the number of neutrons ( N ) in the nucleus ...
The term "nuclear reaction" may refer either to a change in a nuclide induced by collision with another particle or to a spontaneous change of a nuclide without collision. Natural nuclear reactions occur in the interaction between cosmic rays and matter, and nuclear reactions can be employed artificially to obtain nuclear energy, at an ...
The neutron number (symbol N) is the number of neutrons in a nuclide. Atomic number (proton number) plus neutron number equals mass number: Z + N = A. The difference between the neutron number and the atomic number is known as the neutron excess: D = N − Z = A − 2Z.
A model of an atomic nucleus showing it as a compact bundle of protons (red) and neutrons (blue), the two types of nucleons.In this diagram, protons and neutrons look like little balls stuck together, but an actual nucleus (as understood by modern nuclear physics) cannot be explained like this, but only by using quantum mechanics.
The terms proportional to and / represent the volume and surface energy of the liquid drop, the term proportional to represents the electrostatic energy, the term proportional to () represents the Pauli exclusion principle and the last term (,) is the pairing term, which lowers the energy for even numbers of protons or neutrons.