Society & Culture & Entertainment Hobbies & Science

What Is the Mass & Charge of Protons?

    Mass

    • The mass of an individual proton is 1.672621636(83)í--10 (-27) kg. The collective mass of the protons in the nucleus of an atom is roughly the same as the mass of all the neutrons. Of all the weight of an atom, more than 99 percent of the mass is contained in the nucleus; therefore, nearly half of the mass of the atom is made up of protons. The mass of a proton is approximately 1,860 times more than the mass of an electron.

    Charge

    • The charge of the proton is a positive charge. The nucleus of the atom is made up of the positively charged protons and negatively charged neutrons. The positive charge that is carried by the proton is called a +1 elementary charge, the exact opposite of the negative charge that is carried by a single electron. It is called an elementary charge because it is theoretically the smallest charge possible. (This has since been proven wrong with two exceptions--the quark and the quasiparticle). One thing that has never been proven wrong, however, is that the charge is a constant. Regardless of circumstances including things like temperature, pressure and even time, the elementary charge of a proton will not change.

    Measuring Charge

    • Electrical charge in an atom has been measured by a number of different methods, including the Josephson and vonKlitsing constants. These methods measure effects produced by the applications of voltage doses and, in the case of the latter, magnetic fields. The Faraday method is a way of measuring the charge of the proton using electrical current and measuring the amount of the charge that is passed through a wire. The first experiment of this kind involved analysis of silver deposits left behind after a carefully controlled electrochemical reaction. Although the measurement of the Faraday constant has been replaced by the use of the coulomb (the internationally accepted designation for an electric charge), the Faraday constant is still in wide use in the field of electrochemistry.

    Significance

    • Since the charge of the proton is a positive one, the number of protons vs. electrons in an atom is important in determining the charge of the atom. There is one atom that has only a single proton and no neutrons: hydrogen. As a neutron has no actual electrical charge, the only charge of hydrogen is supplied by the single proton. Because of this association, the term proton is sometimes used synonymously with the term hydrogen ion.

    Considerations

    • A change in the charge of an atom can make the atom unstable. Hydrogen is particularly vulnerable to this change, called ionization. Once an atom has been ionized, it can be accelerated by electronic or magnetic fields. This is a process that can be used in nuclear power plants, in the production of particle radiation. During this process, a positively charged proton is left behind, and can become a danger to living tissue. The process also occurs naturally, but high in the atmosphere where it does not present danger to animal, human and plant tissue.

SHARE
RELATED POSTS on "Society & Culture & Entertainment"
How to Calculate the Expansion of the Volume of a Liquid
How to Calculate the Expansion of the Volume of a Liquid
How to Polish the Air Bubbles Out of the Finish
How to Polish the Air Bubbles Out of the Finish
Pine Trees That Are Used to Make Corrugated Cardboard
Pine Trees That Are Used to Make Corrugated Cardboard
Easy Ways to Get TF2 Items
Easy Ways to Get TF2 Items
How to Survey an Ellipse
How to Survey an Ellipse
Who Is Jasper Johns?
Who Is Jasper Johns?
What Are the Dangers of Furniture Made With Pine Beetle-Kill Wood?
What Are the Dangers of Furniture Made With Pine Beetle-Kill Wood?
Energy Sources of Fuel
Energy Sources of Fuel
Forging & Smelting Techniques
Forging & Smelting Techniques
How to Make a Human DNA Model Using Clay
How to Make a Human DNA Model Using Clay
Recycled Newspaper Projects
Recycled Newspaper Projects
Instructions for an Aoyue INT 2702
Instructions for an Aoyue INT 2702
Making Clay Pots on a Wheel
Making Clay Pots on a Wheel
Ways to Reduce Heat Conductivity in Metal
Ways to Reduce Heat Conductivity in Metal
How to Convert a Metric Wrench to a Standard Wrench
How to Convert a Metric Wrench to a Standard Wrench
How to Make a Table Organizer
How to Make a Table Organizer
What Does Frequency Mean in Science?
What Does Frequency Mean in Science?
How to Glue Plastic to Aluminum
How to Glue Plastic to Aluminum
Planetary Gear Train Analysis
Planetary Gear Train Analysis
How to Make a Fish Kite
How to Make a Fish Kite
How to Cover a Model Plane With MonoKote
How to Cover a Model Plane With MonoKote
How to Make a 3D Button
How to Make a 3D Button
How Does UV Light Affect the Ocean?
How Does UV Light Affect the Ocean?

Leave Your Reply

*