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proton

[ proh-ton ]

noun

, Physics, Chemistry.
  1. a positively charged elementary particle that is a fundamental constituent of all atomic nuclei. It is the lightest and most stable baryon, having a charge equal in magnitude to that of the electron, a spin of ½, and a mass of 1.673 × 10 -27 kg. : P


proton

/ ˈprəʊtɒn /

noun

  1. a stable, positively charged elementary particle, found in atomic nuclei in numbers equal to the atomic number of the element. It is a baryon with a charge of 1.602176462 × 10 –19coulomb, a rest mass of 1.672 62159 × 10 –27kilogram, and spin 1 2
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


proton

/ prōtŏn′ /

  1. A stable subatomic particle in the baryon family having a mass of 1.672 × 10 -24 grams (1,836 times that of the electron) and a positive electric charge of approximately 1.602 × 10 -19 coulombs. Protons make up part of the nucleus of all atoms except hydrogen, whose nucleus consists of a single proton. In neutral atoms, the number of protons is the same as the number of electrons. In positively charged atoms, the number of protons is greater than the number of electrons, and in negatively charged atoms electrons outnumber protons. Protons are believed to be composed of two up quarks and one down quark.
  2. See Table at subatomic particle


proton

  1. An elementary particle with a positive charge , found in the nucleus of an atom .


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Notes

Protons and neutrons make up most of an atom's mass .
A proton is over a thousand times heavier than an electron .
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Other Words From

  • pro·tonic adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of proton1

Term first suggested in 1920 by English physicist Ernest Rutherford as noun use of Greek prôton, neuter of prôtos “first,” the proton being the constituent of hydrogen nuclei, and formed on the analogy of electron; first, electron
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Word History and Origins

Origin of proton1

C20: from Greek prōtos first
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Compare Meanings

How does proton compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

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Example Sentences

That’s some 30 times the energy of the protons that race around the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider.

Perhaps the most familiar and ubiquitous of these is the proton.

Astronomers have a clear idea of how solar storms—waves of electrons, protons, and atoms the sun shoots toward our planet—affect human technologies like power grids, communications, GPS navigation, air travel, and satellites.

Another is to explore how the proton's charge influences the behavior of an electron orbiting it in a hydrogen atom, which consists of only a single proton and electron.

In our star, the vast majority come from the direct fusing of protons.

Deuterium is an isotope of hydrogen containing a proton and neutron in its nucleus, while normal hydrogen has only a proton.

You have the atom, which has the neutron, the electron, the proton.

I drank an International Proton Pale Ale and opted not to follow it up with a Plutonium Porter.

I made every last one of them, from the hunky handsome proton to the waifish, Starbucks-named neutrino.

Round a central sun, termed a Proton, whirl a number of electrons in rhythmic motion and incessant swing.

The size ratio of these particles to protons is somewhat like the ratio of an individual proton to a large star.

Information from the wire chambers defines proton trajectories, and pulse heights from the counters determine their energies.

The PDP-9 first tries to reconstruct a vertex from the proton trajectories.

The number at the lower left of each element symbol in the above reaction is the proton number.

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