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A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol p, H +, or 1 H + with a positive electric charge of +1 e (elementary charge).Its mass is slightly less than the mass of a neutron and approximately 1836 times the mass of an electron (the proton-to-electron mass ratio).
In physics, the proton-to-electron mass ratio (symbol μ or β) is the rest mass of the proton (a baryon found in atoms) divided by that of the electron (a lepton found in atoms), a dimensionless quantity, namely: μ = m p /m e = 1 836.152 673 426 (32). [1]
For ordinary nuclei composed of protons and neutrons, this is equal to the proton number (n p) or the number of protons found in the nucleus of every atom of that element. The atomic number can be used to uniquely identify ordinary chemical elements. In an ordinary uncharged atom, the atomic number is also equal to the number of electrons.
The elementary charge, usually denoted by e, is a fundamental physical constant, defined as the electric charge carried by a single proton (+1 e) or, equivalently, the magnitude of the negative electric charge carried by a single electron, which has charge −1 e. [2] [a]
In particle physics, the electron mass (symbol: m e) is the mass of a stationary electron, also known as the invariant mass of the electron. It is one of the fundamental constants of physics . It has a value of about 9.109 × 10 −31 kilograms or about 5.486 × 10 −4 daltons , which has an energy-equivalent of about 8.187 × 10 −14 joules ...
For example, an electron and a positron, each with a mass of 0.511 MeV/c 2, can annihilate to yield 1.022 MeV of energy. A proton has a mass of 0.938 GeV/c 2. In general, the masses of all hadrons are of the order of 1 GeV/c 2, which makes the GeV/c 2 a convenient unit of mass for particle physics: [4]
An electron generates an electric field that exerts an attractive force on a particle with a positive charge, such as the proton, and a repulsive force on a particle with a negative charge. The strength of this force in nonrelativistic approximation is determined by Coulomb's inverse square law .
The electron cloud is a region inside the potential well where each electron forms a type of three-dimensional standing wave—a wave form that does not move relative to the nucleus. This behavior is defined by an atomic orbital , a mathematical function that characterises the probability that an electron appears to be at a particular location ...