An Introduction
An atom consists of three subatomic particles which are – Protons, Neutrons and Electrons. Protons and neutrons are found in the nucleus of the atom while electrons are found in the orbits around the nucleus. In this article, we will discuss the discovery of protons in detail but before that you need to know what protons and their fundamental properties are.
What are Protons?
Protons are positively charged fundamental subatomic particles of atoms. Its symbol is p or p+. As we know that a hydrogen atom consists of one proton and one electron, so on removing the electron from the hydrogen atom a proton is produced. That is why protons are also denoted as H+. It possesses +1e (or 1.60 x 10-19 coulomb) positive electric charge. Thus, protons have equal and opposite charge of electrons.
The word Proton is a Greek word which means ‘First’. It was 1st used by Ernest Rutherford in 1920. The subatomic particles protons and neutrons are together known as nucleons. Nucleons form the nucleus of an atom.
What is The Mass of Proton?
The mass of the proton is 1.67 x 10-24 gram or 1.67 x 10-27 kg. As we know the mass of an electron is 9.1 x 10-28 so the mass of a proton is 1836 times the mass of an electron. Although the mass of a proton is almost equal to the mass of a neutron.
Discovery of a Proton
Proton was found at the early stages of the investigations of atomic structure. English chemist William Prout gave Prout’s hypothesis in 1815 in which he proposed that all atoms are composed of hydrogen atoms. He called these hydrogen atoms ‘protyles’. Although it was disproved by various other discoveries and experiments later but set a fundamental base for discovery of various subatomic particles. Then in 1886, German physicist Eugen Goldstein carried out a modified cathode ray tube experiment in which he used electric discharge in a modified discharge tube with perforated cathode. In this experiment he discovered positively charged rays which he named ‘canal rays’. Canal rays are also known as anode rays.
Let us investigate the discovery of protons through a detailed explanation of the Canal Ray Experiment performed by Goldstein.
Canal Ray Experiment: Discovery of Protons
Goldstein used almost the same discharge tube as the cathode ray discharge tube used for discovery of electrons. The point of difference was the perforated cathode used in Goldstein’s canal ray experiment.
Apparatus - Canal ray experiment apparatus consists of a tube (known as anode rays discharge tube) which is made of glass containing two thin pieces of metal, called electrodes, sealed in it. Out of these two electrodes one electrode (or one metal piece) has many holes in it which acts as a cathode while another electrode acts as anode. Both the electrodes are connected to the high voltage generator. The electrical discharge through the gasses could be observed only at very low pressures and at very high voltages. So, the tube was evacuated so that pressure of different gasses could be adjusted. When sufficiently high voltage is applied across the electrodes, current starts flowing through a stream of particles in the tube.
Procedure and Observation – Electric current was passed through both the electrodes which creates an electric field in the tube and ionizes the gaseous atoms in the tube. At this point anode starts emitting positively charged rays which move towards the negatively charged cathode and pass the holes of the cathode and strike the glass walls of the tube at the end near the cathode. These rays produced a faint red glow. These rays were passing in the opposite direction of the cathode rays so it was concluded that the charge they carry must be opposite of cathode rays. As these rays were moving from anode to cathode so called anode rays as well. Due to the same reason the glass tube used in this experiment was called anode ray discharge tube.
The characteristics of positively charged particles of canal rays are listed below –
Unlike cathode rays, mass of positively charged particles depends upon the nature of gas present in the anode ray tube. These are simply positively charged gaseous ions.
The charge to mass ratio of the particles depends on the gas from which these originate.
Some of the positively charged particles carry a multiple of the fundamental unit of electric charge.
The behavior of these particles in the magnetic or electrical field is opposite to that observed for electron or cathode rays in cathode ray’s experiment.
Thus, Eugen Goldstein 1st observed the protons although it was named and identified in other nuclei by British physicist Ernest Rutherford in 1919.
Properties of Protons
Physical properties of protons are as follows –
Charge of a Proton – Protons are positively charged particles. A proton has 1.60 x 10-19 coulomb positive charge which is equal and opposite to that of an electron.
Mass of a Proton – Mass of one proton is equal to that of the mass of one hydrogen atom. As a hydrogen atom contains only one proton in its nucleus and mass of an atom depends on its nucleus. Protons can be produced by removing an electron from a hydrogen atom. The mass of a proton is 1836 times the mass of an electron. Mass of a proton is 1.676 x 10-27 kg or 1.676 x 10-24 g.
Number of protons in an atom possesses its atomic number. For example, hydrogen contains one proton, so its atomic number is 1 while helium contains two protons, so its atomic number is 2.
Protons are spin -½ fermions. This property of protons is used in Proton NMR.
Fun Facts About Proton
Protons live up to 1034 years
Every element or material made in the lab will have at least one proton
Protons help bind nuclei together
Characteristics of Proton
How to Determine the Number of Protons in any Element?
If you want to determine the number of protons, then it is equal to the atomic number of that element. For eg, hydrogen has an atomic number1 hence the number of protons in hydrogen will be 1
Similarly, below is the list of elements with the number of protons in it:
Different Type of Elements and Their Proton Number
Questions that can be asked in the Exam
What is the mass of a proton?
How was the proton discovered?
Give some properties of proton
How many protons do the following elements have?
Hydrogen
Oxygen
Nitrogen
Potassium
Magnesium
Explain in detail the gold foil experiment with a properly labeled diagram.
What color is produced by protons in the cathode ray tube?
What is the composition of the proton?
Explain some main functions of the proton.
This ends our coverage on the topic “Discovery of a Proton”. We hope you enjoyed learning and were able to grasp the concepts. We hope after reading this article you will be able to solve problems based on the topic. If you are looking for solutions to NCERT Textbook problems based on this topic, then log on to Vedantu website or download Vedantu Learning App. By doing so, you will be able to access free PDFs of NCERT Solutions as well as Revision notes, Mock Tests and much more.
FAQs on Discovery of Proton
1. How was the proton discovered?
Proton is an atomic particle with a positive charge and having a mass slightly less than that of a neutron. Proton was discovered by Rutherford in the year 1909, through his famous gold foil experiment. Rutherford bombarded on gold foil and thought that hydrogen might be the fundamental building block of the nuclei. And then in 1920, he postulated the hydrogen nucleus as a new particle and named it a proton. You can study more about the discovery of a proton from the link available in this article.
2. What happens if an electron comes near a proton?
Proton is a positively charged particle whereas electron is a negatively charged particle. Any atom has the same number of protons and electrons making the atom neutrally charged and stable in nature. But if protons and electrons collide with each other it is called electron capture. However, it strongly depends on the energy of these collisions happening. If collided at high energy, the proton gets converted into a neutron with the emission of neutrinos. But protons and electrons cannot collide so easily in normal conditions due to the presence of strong nuclear force between them.
3. Are there any online resources available to study this topic?
There are various books and online materials available to study atomic properties and revolving concepts. Students can read more about these, then they can log onto the Vedantu website. There you will get all solutions for NCERT textbook problems. It also has some revision notes, mock tests and all the study material needed for preparing any topic related to Science. Below given is the link to access all the study materials for free.
4. Can protons leave an atom?
Atoms are the fundamental building blocks for building matters. All the atoms have the same number of protons as electrons. And the mass of an atom is determined by the number of protons in it. A proton is a leaving atom in a couple of ways. One is radioactive decay, the second can be alpha decay and the third is nuclear fission. Whenever an atom has an unstable nucleus, through radioactive decay, protons can leave the atom. The stability of the nucleus depends upon the ratio of protons to neutrons. There are three types of radioactive decay, which are alpha, beta, and gamma. A second way known as alpha decay is the only spontaneous process by which an atom will lose protons. And by performing nuclear fission, neutrons accelerate towards the nucleus and it causes the nucleus to break into fragments.
5. Can we split protons?
Yes, protons can be split. As they are not any fundamental particle. Protons are made of 2 quarks 2 up and 1 down. It is important to note that these protons cannot be simply taken apart and analyzed. Due to high energy bombarding them spontaneously at extremely high velocities, protons can be split. They can also be split using accelerators such as Large Hadron colliders. However, many other studies contradict the same.
6. Is a proton bigger than an electron?
Protons are positively charged while electrons are negatively charged. A proton is 1835 times more massive than electrons. However protons and electrons both have approximately the same size. But a neutron is slightly heavier than a proton. The nucleus of an atom, which consists of protons and neutrons, occupies a space about 100,000 times smaller than the entire atom. Proton measures 1/50th of the diameter of an atom. So electrons are much smaller than protons and neutrons. But being small, the change of the electron is as strong as a proton. And one proton and one electron balance each other out.
