Comment on Should Neutron Stars be Added to the Periodic Table?

• erin@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

  I’m not exactly well-read on particle physics, but to my understanding neutrons and neutrinos are neutrally charged and electrons are negatively charged. Why does a proton break down into net-negatively charged particles? I assume some weird quark shenanigans.

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  • Natanael@infosec.pub ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

    abc.lbl.gov/wallchart/chapters/03/2.html

    I got stuff mixed

    In beta minus decay, a neutron decays into a proton, an electron, and an antineutrino: n Æ p + e - +. In beta plus decay, a proton decays into a neutron, a positron, and a neutrino: p Æ n + e+ +n. Both reactions occur because in different regions of the Chart of the Nuclides, one or the other will move the product closer to the region of stability. These particular reactions take place because conservation laws are obeyed. Electric charge conservation requires that if an electrically neutral neutron becomes a positively charged proton, an electrically negative particle (in this case, an electron) must also be produced. Similarly, conservation of lepton number requires that if a neutron (lepton number = 0) decays into a proton (lepton number = 0) and an electron (lepton number = 1), a particle with a lepton number of -1 (in this case an antineutrino) must also be produced. The leptons emitted in beta decay did not exist in the nucleus before the decay–they are created at the instant of the decay.

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    • erin@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

      Thanks for the clarification! That all makes sense to me.

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