Other forms: neutrons
A neutron is a particle with no charge, sitting beside the protons. A free neutron, neutron star, neutron radiation.
Having no charge, it passes through matter easily and can slip into a nucleus, which is what makes nuclear reactors and bombs possible. A free one outside a nucleus decays within about fifteen minutes. A neutron star packs a sun into a city.
1nounneutronA particle with no charge, found in the nucleus.
“The nucleus of an atom contains protons and neutrons.”
neutron is a particle.
From neutral plus the -on ending used for particles. Chadwick identified the particle in 1932.
Latin
neutrālis
Middle French
neutral
English
neutral
English, today
neutron
From neutral + on; by surface analysis, neutro- + -on. coined by 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. neutral comes from Middle French neutral (compare modern French neutre), from Latin neutrālis. by surface analysis, neuter + -al.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA