What Is Neutron Charge?
For decades, and for all practical purposes, the neutron had been declared a charge-free particle that is the product of the union of a positively charged proton and a negatively-charge electron. Today, for all practical purposes---but not for all purposes---it is considered the same.
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Where Neutrons Are Found
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Neutrons can be found free in outer space, and they are emitted by certain radioactive elements. Free neutrons have a half-life of only 10.3 minutes; however, by far the majority of neutrons on Earth are bound up in the nuclei of atoms.
Studying Neutrons
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Chemists mostly ignore neutrons because to them, the only thing they influence is isotope number. Physicists, on the other hand--especially astrophysicists and nuclear physicists--are interested in the nucleus and all subatomic particles.
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Interior of the Neutron
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The neutron has an interior because it now appears it is made up of three particles called quarks---specifically two "down" quarks and an "up" quark. Because there is more than one particle in a neutron, even though the neutron has a net charge of zero, it might seem logical there could be areas inside the neutron that would have a charge.
Charge Distribution of a Neutron
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Gerald Miller of the University of Washington in Seattle revealed in 2008 that the neutron not only has a negative surface charge with a positive interior, but it also has a negatively charged core inside that positive interior, as well. Thus, a neutron can be said to have a charge.
Neutrons, Quarks and Supernovas
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Neutrons and their internal quarks and charges have come to be of interest to astronomers. Supernovas are known to produce neutron stars. Much more massive supernovas are credited with the production of black holes. Now an in-between is believed possible: quark stars.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit nébuleuse de l'aigle image by Imag'In Pyrénées from Fotolia.com
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Comments
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I explain the results of Prof. Miller in the papers WEAK DECAY OF HADRONS REVEAL COMPOSITENESS OF QUARKS and QUARK MASS, QUARK COMPOSITENESS AND SOLTUION TO THE PROTON SPIN PUZZLE. Prof. Miller work is not cited because I had not known his work at the time of wrting these papers.
