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

proton

/ prō′tŏn′ /

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 .

Notes

Protons and neutrons make up most of an atom's mass .

A proton is over a thousand times heavier than an electron .

Other Words From

• pro·tonic adjective

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of proton¹

C20: from Greek prōtos first

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.

From Science News

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

From Nautilus

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.

From Popular-Science

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.

From Ars Technica

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

From Popular-Science

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg