neutron

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an elementary particle with 0 charge and mass about equal to a proton

2. 2
   noun

   A subatomic particle forming part of the nucleus of an atom and having no charge; it is a combination of an up quark and two down quarks.

From neutral + -on; by surface analysis, neutr(o)- + -on. Coined by Scottish-Australian physicist William Sutherland in 1899 in a paper in the Philosophical Magazine. Subsequent usage was sporadic and theoretical, sometimes referring to neutrinos rather than neutrons, and the modern sense was reintroduced alongside proton by Ernest Rutherford in 1920.

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