All matter is made up of elements. But why is everything around us so different? The answer has to do with tiny particles. They are called protons. Unlike electrons, which have a negative charge, these elementary particles have a positive charge. What are these particles and how do they work?
Protons everywhere
Which elementary particle has a positive charge? Everything that can be touched, seen and felt is made up of atoms, the smallest building blocks that make up solids, liquids and gases. They are too small to take a closer look at, but they make up things like your computer, the water you drink, and even the air you breathe. There are many types of atoms, including oxygen, nitrogen, and iron. Each of these types is called elements.
Some of them are gases (oxygen). The nickel element is silver in color. There are othersfeatures that distinguish these tiny particles from each other. What actually makes these elements different? The answer is simple: their atoms have different numbers of protons. This elementary particle has a positive charge and is located inside the center of the atom.
All atoms are unique
Atoms are very similar, but the different number of protons makes them a unique type of element. For example, oxygen atoms have 8 protons, hydrogen atoms have only 1, and gold atoms have 79. You can tell a lot about an atom just by counting its protons. These elementary particles are located in the nucleus itself. Originally thought to be a fundamental particle, however, recent studies have shown that protons are made up of smaller ingredients called quarks.
What is a proton?
Which elementary particle has a positive charge? This is a proton. This is the name of the subatomic particle that is in the nucleus of every atom. In fact, the number of protons in each atom is the atomic number. Until recently, it was considered a fundamental particle. However, new technologies have led to the discovery that the proton is made up of smaller particles called quarks. The quark is a fundamental particle of matter that has only recently been discovered.
Where do protons come from?
An elementary particle with a positive charge,called a proton. These elements can be formed as a result of the appearance of unstable neutrons. After about 900 seconds, the neutron bouncing off the nucleus will decay into other elementary particles of the atom: a proton, an electron and an antineutrino.
Unlike the neutron, the free proton is stable. When free protons interact with each other, they form hydrogen molecules. Our sun, like most other stars in the universe, is mostly hydrogen. A proton is the smallest elementary particle that has a charge of +1. An electron has a charge of -1, while a neutron has no charge at all.
Subatomic particles: location and charge
Elements are characterized by their atomic structure, consisting of subatomic elementary particles: protons, neutrons and electrons. The first two groups are located in the nucleus (center) of the atom and have a mass of one atomic mass. The electrons are located outside the nucleus, in zones called "shells". They weigh almost nothing. When calculating atomic mass, attention is paid only to protons and neutrons. The mass of an atom is their sum.
By summing up the atomic mass of all the atoms in a molecule, one can estimate the molecular mass, which is expressed in units of atomic mass (so-called d altons). Each of the heavy particles (neutron, proton) weighs one atomic mass, so the helium atom (He), whichhas two protons, two neutrons and two electrons, weighs about four atomic mass units (two protons plus two neutrons). In addition to location and mass, each subatomic particle has a property called "charge". It can be "positive" or "negative".
Elements with the same charge tend to reflect each other, while objects with opposite charges tend to attract each other. What elementary particle has a positive charge? This is a proton. Neutrons have no charge at all, which gives the nucleus an overall positive charge. Each electron has a negative charge, which is equal in strength to the positive charge of a proton. The electrons and protons of the nucleus are attracted to each other, and this is the force that holds the atom together, similar to the force of gravity that keeps the Moon in orbit around the Earth.
Stable subatomic particle
Which elementary particle has a positive charge? The answer is known: proton. In addition, it is equal in magnitude to the unit charge of the electron. However, its mass at rest is 1.67262 × 10-27 kg, which is 1836 times the mass of an electron. Protons, together with electrically neutral particles called neutrons, make up all atomic nuclei except hydrogen. Each nucleus of a given chemical element has the same number of protons. The atomic number of this element determines its position in the periodic table.
Discovery of the proton
An elementary particle with a positive charge is the proton, the discovery of which dates back to the earliest studies of atomic structure. When studying the flows of ionized gaseous atoms and molecules, from which electrons were removed, a positive particle was determined, equal in mass to a hydrogen atom. Ernest Rutherford (1919) showed that nitrogen, when bombarded with alpha particles, emits what appears to be hydrogen. By 1920, he isolated an elementary particle from hydrogen nuclei, calling it a proton.
High-energy particle physics research at the end of the 20th century improved the structural understanding of the nature of the proton within a group of subatomic particles. Protons and neutrons have been shown to be composed of smaller particles and are classified as baryons - particles made up of the three elementary units of matter known as quarks.
Subatomic particle: towards a grand unified theory
Atom is a small piece of matter, which is a specific element. For some time it was believed that it was the smallest piece of matter that could exist. But in the late 19th century and early 20th century, scientists discovered that atoms are made up of certain subatomic particles, and that no matter which element, the same subatomic particles make up an atom. The number of different subatomic particles is the only thing that changes.
Scientists now recognize that there are many subatomic particles. But in order to be successful in chemistry, you really only need to deal with the three main ones: protons, neutrons, and electrons. Matter can be electrically charged in one of two ways: positive or negative.
What is an elementary particle with a positive charge called? The answer is simple: a proton, it is he who carries one unit of positive charge. And due to the presence of negatively charged electrons, the atom itself is neutral. Sometimes some atoms can gain or lose electrons and gain a charge. In this case, they are called ions.
Elementary particles of the atom: an ordered system
The atom has a systematic and ordered structure that provides stability and is responsible for all kinds of properties of matter. The study of these subatomic particles began over a hundred years ago, and by now we already know a lot about them. scientists have found that most of the atom is empty and sparsely populated by "electrons". They are negatively charged light particles that revolve around the central heavy part, which is 99.99% of the total mass of the atom. Finding out the nature of electrons was easier, but after numerous ingenious studies, it became known that the nucleus includes positive protons and neutral neutrons.
Every unit in the universe is made up of atoms
The key to understanding most of the properties of matter is that every unit in our universe is made up of atoms. There are 92 naturally occurring types of atoms, and they form molecules, compounds, and other types of substances to create the complex world around us. Although the name "atom" was derived from the Greek word átomos, which means "indivisible", modern physics has shown that it is not the final building block of matter and indeed "divides" into subatomic particles. They are the real fundamental entities that make up the whole world.
