Electronics & Semiconductors
Led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, a study of a solar-energy material with a bright future revealed a way to slow phonons, the waves that transport ...
Oct 5, 2020
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49
Electronics & Semiconductors
A large collaboration of researchers led by the University of Wollongong has used nuclear techniques at ANSTO and other methods to develop a process to engineer nanoscale arrays of conducting channels for advanced scalable ...
Apr 5, 2023
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98
Engineering
From carbon fiber to concrete and bamboo, additive manufacturing—the industrial term for 3D printing—utilizes many different materials and techniques. Now, with a significant need for decarbonization and alternative supply ...
Dec 14, 2022
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68
Computer Sciences
Computers help physicists solve complicated calculations. But some of these calculations are so complex that a regular computer is not enough. In fact, some advanced calculations tax even the largest supercomputers. Now, ...
Nov 15, 2022
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107
Robotics
Ensuring that countries abide by future nuclear arms agreements will be a vital task. Inspectors may have to count warheads or confirm the removal of nuclear weapons from geographical areas. Those hotspots could include underground ...
Jun 21, 2023
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26
Engineering
Lithium-based solid-state batteries have some advantages, such as being less flammable. But they are also much less powerful. This is because the lithium ions in this type of battery have to diffuse through a solid electrolyte, ...
Aug 9, 2023
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109
Engineering
Human lives depend on brakes. They need to grip quickly and return to their resting position immediately once the brake pedal is released. If they do not return fully, energy losses may occur. This is not noticeable to the ...
Dec 30, 2022
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9
Engineering
Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of Eastern Finland have developed a new technique for tracking water in concrete structures - allowing engineers to identify potential issues before they ...
Nov 1, 2016
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Engineering
For more than half a century, the 1,000-foot-diameter spherical reflector dish at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico was the largest radio telescope in the world. Completed in 1963, the dish was built in a natural sinkhole, ...
Aug 15, 2023
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Engineering
In response to a renewed international interest in molten salt reactors, researchers from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a novel technique to visualize molten salt intrusion in graphite.
Nov 1, 2023
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2
The neutron is a subatomic particle with no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton.
Neutrons are usually found in atomic nuclei. The nuclei of most atoms consist of protons and neutrons, which are therefore collectively referred to as nucleons. The number of protons in a nucleus is the atomic number and defines the type of element the atom forms. The number of neutrons determines the isotope of an element. For example, the carbon-12 isotope has 6 protons and 6 neutrons, while the carbon-14 isotope has 6 protons and 8 neutrons.
While bound neutrons in stable nuclei are stable, free neutrons are unstable; they undergo beta decay with a lifetime of just under 15 minutes (885.7 ± 0.8 s). Free neutrons are produced in nuclear fission and fusion. Dedicated neutron sources like research reactors and spallation sources produce free neutrons for the use in irradiation and in neutron scattering experiments.
Even though it is not a chemical element, the free neutron is sometimes included in tables of nuclides. It is then considered to have an atomic number of zero and a mass number of one.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
