The nucleus consists of protons, neutrons. In Bohr's model, electrons move around the nucleus in circular orbits, like the Earth orbiting the Sun. Electrons can cross between these levels, and when they do, they either absorb a photon or emit a photon. What is the size of a proton and what is it?
The main building element of the visible universe
The proton is the main building block of the visible Universe, but many of its properties, such as the radius of the charge and its anomalous magnetic moment, are not entirely understood. What is a proton? This is a subatomic particle with a positive electric charge. Until recently, the proton was considered the smallest particle. However, thanks to new technologies, the fact that protons include even smaller elements, particles called quarks, the true fundamental particles of matter, has become known. A proton can form as a result of an unstable neutron.
Charge
What electric charge does a proton have? It has a charge of +1 elementary charge, which is denoted by the letter "e" and was discovered in 1874 by George Stony. While the proton has a positive charge (or 1e), the electron has a negative charge (-1 or -e), and the neutron has no charge at all and can be denoted 0e. 1 elementary charge is equal to 1,602 × 10 -19 coulombs. A pendant is a type of unit of electrical charge and is equivalent to one ampere, which is steadily transported per second.
What is a proton?
All that you can touch and feel is made up of atoms. The size of these tiny particles inside the center of the atom is very small. Although they make up most of the weight of an atom, they are still very small. In fact, if the atom were the size of a football field, each of its protons would only be the size of an ant. Protons should not be limited to atomic nuclei. When protons are located outside atomic nuclei, they acquire exciting, bizarre and potentially dangerous properties similar to those of neutrons in such circumstances.
But protons have an additional property. Since they carry an electric charge, they can be accelerated by electric or magnetic fields. High-speed protons and atomic nuclei containing them are released in large quantities during solar flares. Particles are accelerated by the Earth's magnetic field, causing ionospheric disturbances known as geomagnetic storms.
Number of protons, size and mass
The number of protons makes each atom unique. For example, oxygen has eight, hydrogen has only one, and gold has as many as 79. This number is similar to the identity of the element. You can learn a lot about an atom by simply knowing the number of its protons. This subatomic particle found in the nucleus of each atom has a positive electric charge equal to and opposite to the electron of the element. If it were isolated, it would have a mass of only about 1,673 -27 kg, slightly less than the mass of the neutron.
The number of protons in the nucleus of an element is called the atomic number. This number gives each element its own unique identity. In the atoms of a particular element, the number of protons in the nuclei is always the same. A simple hydrogen atom has a nucleus, which consists of only 1 proton. The nuclei of all other elements almost always contain neutrons in addition to protons.
How large is the proton?
Nobody knows for sure, and this is a problem. In the experiments, modified hydrogen atoms were used to obtain the size of the proton. This is a subatomic mystery with great consequences. Six years after physicists announced the proton size was too small, scientists are still not sure about the true size. With the advent of new data, the mystery becomes deeper.
Protons are particles inside the nucleus of atoms. For many years, the proton radius seemed fixed at around 0.877 femtometers. But in 2010, Randolph Paul of the Institute of Quantum Optics. Max Planck in Garching, Germany, received an alarming response using a new measurement technique.
The team changed one proton, one electronic composition of the hydrogen atom, switching the electron to a heavier particle called the muon. Then they replaced this modified atom with a laser. Measurement of the resulting change in their energy levels allowed them to calculate the size of its proton nucleus. To their surprise, it came out 4% less than the traditional value, measured by other means. Randolph’s experiment also applied a new technique to deuterium — a hydrogen isotope that has one proton and one neutron, collectively known as a deuteron — in its nucleus. However, accurate calculation of the deuteron size took a long time.
New experiments
New data show that the problem of proton radius does not disappear. A few more experiments in the laboratory of Randolph Paul and others are already underway. Someone uses the same muon technique to measure the size of heavier atomic nuclei, such as helium. Others simultaneously measure the scattering of muons and electrons. Paul suspects that the culprit may not be the proton itself, but an incorrect measurement of the Rydberg constant, a number that describes the wavelengths of light emitted by an excited atom. But this constant is well known for other precision experiments.
Another explanation proposes new particles that cause unexpected interactions between a proton and a muon without changing its relationship with the electron. This may mean that the puzzle takes us beyond the standard model of particle physics. “If at some point in the future someone discovers something other than the standard model, it will be so,” says Paul, with the first slight discrepancy, then with the other and the other, slowly creating a more monumental shift. What is the true proton size? New results challenge the basic theory of physics.
By calculating the effect of the proton radius on the flight path, the researchers were able to estimate the radius of the proton particle, which amounted to 0.84184 femtometers. Previously, this indicator was at the level of 0.8768 to 0.897 femtometers. When considering such tiny amounts, there is always a chance of error. However, after 12 years of painstaking efforts, team members are confident in the accuracy of their measurements. The theory may need some refinement, but whatever the answer, physicists will scratch their heads for a long time, solving this difficult task.