neutron

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun an elementary particle with 0 charge and mass about equal to a proton; enters into the structure of the atomic nucleus

Etymology

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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