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Definition: proton from Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary

A fundamental unit of matter having a positive charge and a mass number of 1, equivalent to 1.67 × 10–24 g. Its mass is 1837 times that of the negatively charged electron, but is almost identical with that of the uncharged neutron. Protons are constituents of all atomic nuclei, their number in each nucleus being the atomic number of the element. An atom of normal hydrogen contains one proton and one electron. A proton is identical with a hydrogen ion (H+).

proton

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
elementary particle having a single positive electrical charge and constituting the nucleus of the ordinary hydrogen atom. The positive charge of the nucleus of any atom is due to its protons. Every atomic nucleus contains one or more protons; the number of protons, called the atomic number, is different for every element (see periodic table ). The mass of the proton is about 1,840 times the mass of the electron and slightly less than the mass of the neutron . The total number of nucleons, as protons and neutrons are collectively called, in any nucleus is the mass number of the nucleus. The existence of the nucleus was postulated by Ernest Rutherford in 1911 to explain his experiments on the scattering of alpha particles; in 1919 he discovered the proton as a product of the disintegration of the atomic nucleus. The proton and the neutron are regarded as two aspects or states of a single entity, the nucleon. The proton is the lightest of the baryon class of elementary particles . The…
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Full text Article Proton

From Astronomy Encyclopedia
Russian workhorse satellite and planetary space probe launcher. It started life as a two-stage booster, first flown in 1965, and has since made more than 300 flights in different models. With four stages, the Proton K was first launched in 1967, later proving its capability to place satellites…
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Full text Article proton

From Philip's Encyclopedia
(symbol p) Stable elementary particle with a positive charge equal in magnitude to the negative charge of the electron . The proton was discovered (1919) by Ernest Rutherford . It forms the nucleus of the lightest isotope of hydrogen and, with the neutron , is a constituent of the nuclei of all…
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Full text Article proton

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
elementary particle having a single positive electrical charge and constituting the nucleus of the ordinary hydrogen atom. The positive charge of the nucleus of any atom is due to its protons. Every atomic nucleus contains one or more protons; the number of protons, called the atomic number, is…
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Full text Article proton

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
In physics, a positively charged subatomic particle, a constituent of the nucleus of all atoms . It carries a unit positive charge equal to the negative charge of an electron . Its mass is almost 1,836 times that of an electron, or 1.673 × 10 −24 g. The number of protons in the atom of an element is…
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Full text Article proton-proton chain reaction

From Collins Dictionary of Astronomy
Proton-proton chain reaction
A series of nuclear fusion reactions by which energy can be generated in the dense cores of stars. The overall effect of the chain reaction is the conversion of hydrogen nuclei to helium nuclei with the release of an immense amount of energy. The energy maintains the core temperature, some of it…
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Full text Article proton-proton reaction

From Astronomy Encyclopedia
Set of NUCLEAR REACTIONS that results in the conversion of hydrogen into helium. 26.8 MeV (4 × 10 -12 J) of energy is released during the formation of a single helium nucleus. This comes from the conversion of mass into energy, since the helium nucleus has a mass that is about 0.7% less than that of…
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Full text Article proton synchrotron

From The Penguin Dictionary of Physics
A cyclic ACCELERATOR of very large radius that can accelerate protons to extremely high energies: 70 GeV at Serpukhov, Russia; 450 GeV at CERN, Geneva; and 900 GeV at FNAL, USA. It is basically similar to a SYNCHROTRON . In a synchrotron a fixed orbit is maintained by increasing the magnetic field…
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Full text Article proton

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Stable subatomic particle (one of the baryon s) with a unit of positive electric charge and a mass 1,836 times that of the electron . Protons are found in the atomic nucleus along with neutron s. For every nucleus of a given element , the number of protons is always the same; this number is the…
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Full text Article proton

From The Penguin Dictionary of Science
A subatomic particle with a charge opposite in sign and exactly equal in magnitude to the ➤ electronic charge , a mass of 938.3 MeV/ c 2 and a spin of ½. It is a ➤ nucleon , and feels the ➤ strong interaction , which binds it with the other protons and ➤ neutrons in the nucleus. It is one of the two…
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Full text Article PROTON

From Gaither's Dictionary of Scientific Quotations
English science writer As far as atoms are concerned, protons and electrons are like knives and forks at the dinner table; no matter how big the table, there are equal numbers of each. Life's Matrix: A Biography of Water Part One, Chapter 1 (p. 7 ) Farrar, Straus & Giroux. New York New York USA…
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