
Protons are found to be smaller in size
#1
Posted 13 July 2010 - 02:45 AM
All atoms are made up of nuclei orbited by electrons. The nuclei, in turn, are made of neutrons and protons, which are themselves made of particles called quarks.
For years the accepted value for the radius of a proton has been 0.8768 femtometers, where a femtometer equals one quadrillionth of a meter.
The size of a proton is an essential value in equations that make up the 60-year-old theory of quantum electrodynamics, a cornerstone of the Standard Model of particle physics. The Standard Model describes how all forces, except gravity, affect subatomic particles.
But the proton's current value is accurate only by plus or minus one percent—which isn't accurate enough for quantum electrodynamics, or QED, theory to work perfectly. So physicists have been searching for ways to refine the number.
Smaller Proton Size Revealed by Lasers
In a ten-year experiment, a team led by Randolf Pohl of the Max-Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching, Germany, used a specialized particle accelerator to alter hydrogen atoms, which are each made of a single proton orbited by an electron.
For each hydrogen atom, the team replaced the atom's electron with a particle called a muon, which is 200 times more massive than an electron.
"Because the muon is so much heavier, it orbits very close to the proton, so it is sensitive to the proton's size," said team member Aldo Antognini, of the Paul-Scherrer Institute in Switzerland.
Read the complete article here.
Take my hand and we'll go riding through the sunshine from above
#2
Posted 13 July 2010 - 05:51 AM
Nature is what it is, and will do what it will do. We mostly observe, and only fundamentally interact.
Not even the speed of light, in a vacuum is "always" consistant, yet most lay persons treat this "Usual Constant" as a "law".
#3
Posted 13 July 2010 - 07:16 AM

#4
Posted 13 July 2010 - 08:03 AM
I wish they'd slow down with the discoveries. I't getting hard for Old Guys to keep up!
That's what keeps you young

#5
Posted 13 July 2010 - 08:32 AM
I'm sorry. What was the question?That's what keeps you young

Remember when (the proverbial) they used to tell us the brain had an unlimited capacity to learn? *NOW* they're saying it ain't so!
"ISN'T THAT NICE?"
#6
Posted 13 July 2010 - 09:22 AM
I'm sorry. What was the question?That's what keeps you young
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Remember when (the proverbial) they used to tell us the brain had an unlimited capacity to learn? *NOW* they're saying it ain't so!
"ISN'T THAT NICE?"
LMAO
#7
Posted 13 July 2010 - 12:40 PM
I'm not a big fan of National Geographic "Science". It will be interesting to see if this claim is actually validated.
#8
Posted 14 July 2010 - 09:59 PM
#9
Posted 27 November 2010 - 12:32 AM
Thats just my opinion though. Nothing more.
Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything. ~Plato
Dreams are illustrations... from the book your soul is writing about you. ~Marsha Norman
#10
Posted 27 November 2010 - 07:22 PM
#11
Posted 28 November 2010 - 10:42 AM
Protons are known to transform into neutrons through the process of electron capture (also called inverse beta decay). For free protons this process does not occur spontaneously but only when energy is supplied.
Humm..Electromagnetic....One with or without the other...Let's see where it goes..
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