CAUSE FOR +1e CHARGE ON A PROTON
Hi there and today in this post we are gonna talk about protons and the cause of +1e charge on a proton and a zero charge on a neutron. Have you guys ever wondered why are we taught that a proton has a +1e charge on it or we can say +1.6×10^-19coulombs (since the value of e is 1.6×10^-19coulombs) charge on it and a neutron is neutral?
So let's find it out today.
Actually the protons and neutrons are not the fundamental particles and we were lied all along in our schools. In reality the protons and neutrons are made up of other subatomic fundamental particles which are called 'Quarks'. Quarks are the fundamental subatomic particles and are of six types - up, down,top, bottom,strange and charm.
Actually the protons and neutrons are not the fundamental particles and we were lied all along in our schools. In reality the protons and neutrons are made up of other subatomic fundamental particles which are called 'Quarks'. Quarks are the fundamental subatomic particles and are of six types - up, down,top, bottom,strange and charm.
Quarks have various intrinsic properties like mass, electric charge and spin. A proton is composed up of two up quarks, one down quark and they are held together by gluons. Similarly a neutron is composed up of two down quarks and one up quark.
The charge on a proton is actually the sum of the charges on the quarks. An up quark has a charge of +2/3 and a down quark has a charge of -1/3 and since a proton is composed up of two up and one down quark it has a charge of +2/3+2/3-1/3 (adding the charges on the quarks) = +1e and similarly a neutron which is made up of two down and one up quark has no charge as the sum of charges on the quarks turns out to be zero(-1/3-1/3+2/3). Hence a neutron is neutral and a proton has a +1e charge on it.
The charge on a proton is actually the sum of the charges on the quarks. An up quark has a charge of +2/3 and a down quark has a charge of -1/3 and since a proton is composed up of two up and one down quark it has a charge of +2/3+2/3-1/3 (adding the charges on the quarks) = +1e and similarly a neutron which is made up of two down and one up quark has no charge as the sum of charges on the quarks turns out to be zero(-1/3-1/3+2/3). Hence a neutron is neutral and a proton has a +1e charge on it.
I hope you found this article interesting and you learnt something new and if so, please don't forget to share it with your friends and family and leave a comment if you like.
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