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A type of subatomic particle consisting of two protons and two neutrons bound together into a particle identical to the nucleus of a helium-4 ion. It has a charge of +2 e and a mass of 4 u . Alpha particles are classically produced in the process of radioactive alpha decay , but may also be produced in other ways and given the same name.
A table or chart of nuclides is a two-dimensional graph of isotopes of the elements, in which one axis represents the number of neutrons (symbol N) and the other represents the number of protons (atomic number, symbol Z) in the atomic nucleus. Each point plotted on the graph thus represents a nuclide of a known or hypothetical chemical element.
An atomic nucleus is formed by a number of protons, Z (the atomic number), and a number of neutrons, N (the neutron number), bound together by the nuclear force. Protons and neutrons each have a mass of approximately one dalton. The atomic number determines the chemical properties of the atom, and the neutron number determines the isotope or ...
As the number of protons increases, so does the ratio of neutrons to protons necessary to ensure a stable nucleus (see graph). For example, although the neutron–proton ratio of 3 2 He is 1:2, the neutron–proton ratio of 238 92 U is greater than 3:2. A number of lighter elements have stable nuclides with the ratio 1:1 (Z = N). The nuclide 40 ...
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 − 2 Z .
Here the unit for the magnetic moments is the nuclear magneton, symbol μ N, an atomic-scale unit of measure. The neutron's magnetic moment is μ n = −1.91 μ N, whereas, since the neutron lacks an electric charge, it should have no magnetic moment. The value of the neutron's magnetic moment is negative because the direction of the moment is ...
For example, uranium-238 usually decays by alpha decay, where the nucleus loses two neutrons and two protons in the form of an alpha particle. Thus the atomic number and the number of neutrons each decrease by 2 ( Z : 92 → 90, N : 146 → 144), so that the mass number decreases by 4 ( A = 238 → 234); the result is an atom of thorium-234 and ...
Most stable nuclides have roughly equal numbers of protons and neutrons, so the line for which Z = N forms a rough initial line defining stable nuclides. The greater the number of protons, the more neutrons are required to stabilize a nuclide; nuclides with larger values for Z require an even larger number of neutrons, N > Z, to be stable. The ...