4.4: The Properties Of Protons, Neutrons, And Electrons

Neutrons

Atoms of all elements—except for most atoms of hydrogen—have neutrons in their nucleus. Unlike protons and electrons, which are electrically charged, neutrons have no charge—they are electrically neutral. That's why the neutrons in the diagram above are labeled \(n^0\). The zero stands for "zero charge". The mass of a neutron is slightly greater than the mass of a proton, which is 1 atomic mass unit \(\left( \text{amu} \right)\). (An atomic mass unit equals about \(1.67 \times 10^{-27}\) kilograms.) A neutron also has about the same diameter as a proton, or \(1.7 \times 10^{-15}\) meters.

As you might have already guessed from its name, the neutron is neutral. In other words, it has no charge whatsoever and is therefore neither attracted to nor repelled from other objects. Neutrons are in every atom (with one exception), and they are bound together with other neutrons and protons in the atomic nucleus.

Before we move on, we must discuss how the different types of subatomic particles interact with each other. When it comes to neutrons, the answer is obvious. Since neutrons are neither attracted to nor repelled from objects, they don't really interact with protons or electrons (beyond being bound into the nucleus with the protons).

Even though electrons, protons, and neutrons are all types of subatomic particles, they are not all the same size. When you compare the masses of electrons, protons, and neutrons, what you find is that electrons have an extremely small mass, compared to either protons or neutrons. On the other hand, the masses of protons and neutrons are fairly similar, although technically, the mass of a neutron is slightly larger than the mass of a proton. Because protons and neutrons are so much more massive than electrons, almost all of the mass of any atom comes from the nucleus, which contains all of the neutrons and protons.

Table \(\PageIndex{1}\): Properties of Subatomic Particles

Particle	Symbol	Mass (amu)	Relative Mass (proton = 1)	Relative Charge	Location
proton	p+	1	1	+1	inside the nucleus
electron	e−	5.45 × 10−4	0.00055	−1	outside the nucleus
neutron	n0	1	1	0	inside the nucleus

Table \(\PageIndex{1}\) gives the properties and locations of electrons, protons, and neutrons. The third column shows the masses of the three subatomic particles in "atomic mass units." An atomic mass unit (\(\text{amu}\)) is defined as one-twelfth of the mass of a carbon-12 atom. Atomic mass units (\(\text{amu}\)) are useful, because, as you can see, the mass of a proton and the mass of a neutron are almost exactly \(1\) in this unit system.

Negative and positive charges of equal magnitude cancel each other out. This means that the negative charge on an electron perfectly balances the positive charge on the proton. In other words, a neutral atom must have exactly one electron for every proton. If a neutral atom has 1 proton, it must have 1 electron. If a neutral atom has 2 protons, it must have 2 electrons. If a neutral atom has 10 protons, it must have 10 electrons. You get the idea. In order to be neutral, an atom must have the same number of electrons and protons.