What is a neutron?

Atoms are made of electrons, protons, and neutrons. Neutrons are the neutral particles that reside in an atom's nucleus and are in turn made up of quarks. To be specific a neutron is made up of two down quarks of -1/3 charge each and one up quark of charge +2/3 to make the overall charge zero.

Did you know?

Did you know that a neutron is a subatomic particle that plays a crucial role in atomic nuclei? It has almost the same mass as a proton but carries no electrical charge. Although discovered by James Chadwick in 1932, its theoretical existence was first proposed by Ernest Rutherford in 1920. Neutrons help stabilize atomic nuclei and provide the necessary balance between repulsive protons, allowing atoms to form and bind together. They are vital in various scientific fields such as nuclear physics, nuclear power generation, and even medical imaging techniques like neutron radiography. Fascinatingly, free neutrons have a limited lifetime outside the nucleus, decaying into other particles in an average time of only 14 minutes and 42 seconds!