Why neutron is needed in an atom?
Answers
Answer:
- Neutrons play a vital role in the radioactive property and mass number of an atom.
- The neutrons add up to the mass of an atom.
- Neutrons play a major role to make an atom stable.
- Neutrons prevents the protons of an atom from repelling each other.
Answer:
Neutrons are very important in providing stability for an atom. Some atoms don't "need" neutrons - The hydrogen atom does not have any neutrons. However, as the atomic number ( # of protons ) increases, the number of neutrons increases as well.
Protons don't like each other. Naturally, 'positive charges repel', so it wouldn't be possible to have more than one proton in the nucleus. Here's where the neutron comes in. When atoms are created by fusion, neutrons are included in this process. In this process of fusion, the building blocks of the nucleus are squished together, and all the particles undergo a mass change. Each nucleon loses a small amount of mass, mass which is converted into nuclear binding energy or nuclear glue. It's this material that keeps the protons and neutrons together, making the nucleus relatively stable. Protons alone couldn't engage in this process, because it takes both nucleons to contribute to the creation of this 'binding energy' that allows the nucleus to fuse together.
The neutrons essentially act as "filters" for these positive charges by interacting with the protons themselves. Isotopes exist because for a given number of protons in a nucleus ( a given element ), the amount of neutrons required for nuclear stability varies. One particular number of neutrons might correspond to the greatest stability, but other neutron counts may also prove acceptable.