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Almost all of the mass of an atom is located in the nucleus, with a very small contribution from the electron cloud. Protons and neutrons are bound together to form a nucleus by the nuclear force. The diameter of the nucleus is in the range of 1.70 fm (1.70 × 10 −15 m [7]) for hydrogen (the diameter of a single proton) to about 11.7 fm for ...
Diagram of a helium atom, showing the electron probability density as shades of gray. The atomic radius of a chemical element is a measure of the size of its atom, usually the mean or typical distance from the center of the nucleus to the outermost isolated electron. Since the boundary is not a well-defined physical entity, there are various ...
The problem of defining a radius for the atomic nucleus has some similarity to that of defining a radius for the entire atom; neither has well defined boundaries.However, basic liquid drop models of the nucleus imagine a fairly uniform density of nucleons, theoretically giving a more recognizable surface to a nucleus than an atom, the latter being composed of highly diffuse electron clouds ...
Under some definitions, the value of the radius may depend on the atom's state and context. [1] Atomic radii vary in a predictable and explicable manner across the periodic table. For instance, the radii generally decrease rightward along each period (row) of the table, from the alkali metals to the noble gases; and increase down each group ...
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 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).)
Furthermore, the energy needed to excite the nucleus (i.e. moving a nucleon to a higher, previously unoccupied level) is exceptionally high in such nuclei. Whenever this unoccupied level is the next after a full shell, the only way to excite the nucleus is to raise one nucleon across the gap, thus spending a large amount of energy. Otherwise ...
The Rutherford model is a name for the first model of an atom with a compact nucleus. The concept arose from Ernest Rutherford discovery of the nucleus. Rutherford directed the Geiger–Marsden experiment in 1909, which showed much more alpha particle recoil than J. J. Thomson's plum pudding model of the atom could explain. Thomson's model had ...