In this video, we explore the fundamental question: Why does changing just one proton in the nucleus of an atom create a different element? The number of protons in an atomic nucleus determines the ...

Adding a single proton to a doubly magic isotope of oxygen is enough to significantly alter its properties, an international team of physicists has discovered. Led by Tsz Leung Tang at the University ...

The “lead” of a pencil is actually made of a substance called graphite which is made of carbon atoms. The picture shows a close-up of one carbon atom. A hydrogen atom has one proton as the nucleus and ...

Scientists have caught fast-moving hydrogen atoms—the keys to countless biological and chemical reactions—in action. A team led by researchers at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator ...

The word magic is not often used in the context of science. But in the early 1930s, scientists discovered that some atomic nuclei—the center part of atoms, which make up all matter—were more stable ...

The atomic nucleus is a busy place. Its constituent protons and neutrons occasionally collide, and briefly fly apart with high momentum before snapping back together like the two ends of a stretched ...

A researcher stands behind a metal pipe covered with electrical cords and gauges. A researcher works on a device at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams. This part of the facility provides low-energy ...

Helium is the second most abundant element in the Universe, after hydrogen. The nucleus of its most common isotope, helium-4, consists of two protons and two neutrons and is called the α-particle.

All of us probably know what neutrons are, or have at least heard of them back in physics class. Yet these little bundles of quarks are much more than just filler inside an atom’s nucleus. In addition ...