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Protons are subatomic particles found in the nucleus of atoms, with a positive charge that balances electrons. Ernest Rutherford is credited with discovering them in 1918. The number of protons determines an atom’s properties and atomic number. Antiprotons were discovered in 1955, and protons are useful for experimentation.
A proton is a subatomic particle found in the nucleus of all conventional atoms. The only place you can find matter without protons is in a neutron star or in the core of powerful particle accelerators. The proton has a positive charge, which balances the negative charge in the atoms, the electrons. If an atom has a proton or neutron imbalance, it is no longer neutral and becomes a charged particle, also known as an ion.
It is difficult to determine who, exactly, discovered the proton. Scientists theorized about the existence of positively charged particles after JJ Thomson’s discovery of the electron in 1897. However, Ernest Rutherford is often credited with the discovery, based on his experiments in 1918.
Rutherford fired alpha particles, which are essentially electron-less helium nuclei, into a nitrogen gas. His detectors found the characteristic signature of the hydrogen nuclei produced. After thinking about it for a while, he realized that these hydrogen nuclei could only come from nitrogen gas. This led to the theory that the nucleus of a hydrogen atom was an elementary particle, the proton, and that protons could be found in the nuclei of all atoms.
The properties of atoms are defined by the number of electrons, neutrons and protons they possess. However, the number of protons is the most significant variable. This variable is so significant, in fact, that the number of protons in an atom’s nucleus is called its atomic number, and atoms are named according to the number of protons they have.
The atomic number is the most physically relevant characteristic of an atom. Atoms with low atomic numbers are the most common in the universe because they are the easiest to form. This is why hydrogen and helium are the most abundant elements in the universe.
In 1955, the proton’s evil twin, the antiproton, was discovered. Instead of having a positive charge, it has a negative one. Like all antimatter, it explodes on contact with normal matter.
Protons are also a favorite of experimental physicists who like to accelerate them to significant fractions of the speed of light. Ballistic protons are responsible for many discoveries in the huge “Particle Zoo” spawned by 20th century physics. Unlike their cousins, neutrons, protons are stable outside an atomic nucleus, making them useful for experimentation.
