nucleon
Sign in to savethumb|An atomic nucleus is shown here as a compact bundle of the two types of nucleons, [[protons (red) and neutrons (blue). In this picture, the protons and neutrons are shown as distinct, which is the conventional view in chemistry, for example. But in an actual nucleus, as understood by modern nuclear physics, the nucleons are partially delocalized and organize themselves according to the laws of quantum chromodynamics.]] In physics and chemistry, a nucleon is either a proton or a neutron, considered in its role as a component of an atomic nucleus. The number of nucleons in a nucleus define
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A nucleon is either a proton or a neutron, the two types of particles that make up an atomic nucleus. The number of nucleons in a nucleus is a fundamental property that helps determine what element an atom is and how it behaves.
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Article
16 sectionsContents
- Overview
- Properties
- Stability
- Antinucleons
- Tables of detailed properties
- Nucleons
- Nucleon resonances
- Quark model classification
- Skyrmion models
- MIT bag model
- Chiral bag model
- See also
- Footnotes
- References
- Particle listings
- Further reading
thumb|An atomic nucleus is shown here as a compact bundle of the two types of nucleons, [[protons (red) and neutrons (blue). In this picture, the protons and neutrons are shown as distinct, which is the conventional view in chemistry, for example. But in an actual nucleus, as understood by modern nuclear physics, the nucleons are partially delocalized and organize themselves according to the laws of quantum chromodynamics.]] In physics and chemistry, a nucleon is either a proton or a neutron, considered in its role as a component of an atomic nucleus. The number of nucleons in a nucleus defines the atom's mass number.
Until the 1960s, nucleons were thought to be elementary particles, not made up of smaller parts. Now they are understood as composite particles, made of three quarks bound together by the strong interaction. The interaction between two or more nucleons is called internucleon interaction or nuclear force, which is also ultimately caused by the strong interaction. (Before the discovery of quarks, the term "strong interaction" referred to just internucleon interactions.)