Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A nucleus with full shells is exceptionally stable, as will be explained. As with electrons in the electron shell model, protons in the outermost shell are relatively loosely bound to the nucleus if there are only few protons in that shell, because they are farthest from the center of the nucleus. Therefore, nuclei which have a full outer ...
A nucleus with an even number of protons and an odd number of neutrons (or vice versa) has the parity of the last neutron (or proton), and the spin equal to the total angular momentum of this neutron (or proton). By "last" we mean the properties coming from the highest energy level.
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.
Woods–Saxon potential for A = 50, relative to V 0 with a = 0.5 fm and =. The Woods–Saxon potential is a mean field potential for the nucleons (protons and neutrons) inside the atomic nucleus, which is used to describe approximately the forces applied on each nucleon, in the nuclear shell model for the structure of the nucleus.
The atomic nucleus is a bound system of protons and neutrons. The spatial extent and shape of the nucleus depend not only on the size and shape of discrete nucleons, but also on the distance between them (the inter-nucleon distance). (Other factors include spin, alignment, orbital motion, and the local nuclear environment (see EMC effect).)
In nuclear physics, properties of a nucleus depend on evenness or oddness of its atomic number (proton number) Z, neutron number N and, consequently, of their sum, the mass number A. Most importantly, oddness of both Z and N tends to lower the nuclear binding energy, making odd nuclei generally less stable.
Nuclear fission is the opposite process, causing a nucleus to split into two smaller nuclei—usually through radioactive decay. The nucleus can also be modified through bombardment by high energy subatomic particles or photons. If this modifies the number of protons in a nucleus, the atom changes to a different chemical element. [47] [48]
The nucleus of an atom comprises protons and neutrons, both nucleons that behave as small magnets. Their magnetic strengths are measured by their magnetic moments. The nucleons interact with normal matter through either the nuclear force or their magnetic moments, with the charged proton also interacting by the Coulomb force.