Stability of Nucleus: Neutron's Role

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    Nucleus Stability
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Neutrons play a crucial role in stabilizing atomic nuclei by counteracting the repulsive forces between protons, although a neutron alone does not guarantee stability. While normal hydrogen, which has only one proton and no neutrons, is stable, most elements have isotopes with varying neutron counts, leading to different stability levels. Some isotopes are stable with long half-lives, while others are less stable with short half-lives. The strong nuclear force binds protons and neutrons together, but the repulsive Coulomb force between protons necessitates the presence of neutrons for stability. Additionally, several elements, such as tin, have multiple stable isotopes, illustrating the complexity of nuclear stability.
Sagar Singh
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Hi There!
How a neutron is able to make a nucleus stable?
 
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A neutron doesn't make a nucleus stable.
Normal hydrogen contains only a single proton, it has no neutron, and it is stable.
Most, probably all, elements (including hydrogen) have isotopes.
These are variations of chemically the same element possessing different numbers of neutrons.
Some isotopes are stable (relatively long half life), others are less stable and can have very short half lives.
 
Last edited:
The strong force holds the nucleus together, but the coulomb force pushes it apart.
The oversimplified explanation is that the coulomb force between protons is too strong for the strong force between them to hold it together, so it needs some neutrons, which have strong force attraction, but no charge.
 
rootone said:
A neutron doesn't make a nucleus stable.
Normal hydrogen contains only a single proton, it has no neutron, and it is stable.
Most, probably all, elements (including hydrogen) have isotopes.
These are variations of chemically the same element possessing different numbers of neutrons.
Some isotopes are stable (relatively long half life), others are less stable and can have very short half lives.
Stable isotopes are just that. Their half lives are (as far as we know) infinite. There are models which predict proton decay, but there is no evidence for it.
 
Just curious, are there any elements which have more than one stable isotope,
(given the definition of 'stable' as meaning infinite, or at least immeasurably long half life)
 
rootone said:
Just curious, are there any elements which have more than one stable isotope,
(given the definition of 'stable' as meaning infinite, or at least immeasurably long half life)
For starters - H1, H2, He3, He4, Li6, Li7.
 
Tin has ten stable isotopes.
 

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