How did the neutron get its name?

The word neutron may have stemmed from a Latin word which means neutral then the suffix -on was added to it to make it the opposite of proton which can also be found near the center of the nucleus but is positively charged. It should be remembered that neutrons have no charge.

The person who discovered the neutron, James Chadwick had a hard time trying to get proof that neutrons exist but were able to prove it after a lot of research. He did this by getting the mass of a nucleus because this is where the mass of the atom is located. He then showed that neutrons could take up the weight that is unaccounted for.

The Neutron is understood to be subatomic and a particle that has no electric charge. Its mass is only a bit larger than that of the proton. The Proton and Neutron together constitute the nuclei of atoms. These Neutrons are an essential element of nuclear power and even the production of nuclear weapons.

These have come to be known as weapons of mass destruciotn and it has been used several times in history to the detrement to mankind. The name Neutron came because of its neutrality of not being a charged particle within the atom such as the electrons and protons.

Ernest Rutherford named neutron as well as a proton. Neutron already had its name by Rutherford in 1920 before its discovery in 1932 by James Chadwick. Rutherford had a theory of neutron’s existence that can compensate the protons’ repelling effect by creating a nuclear force to keep the nuclei intact from the repulsion of the positive charges.

Neutrons were also called nuclear electrons as only a powerful subunit can only counteract the protons in the nucleus. Rutherford did not know then how these nuclear electrons could be confined in the nucleus as they did not find any evidence of these yet. He still believed that neutrons exist along with protons and electrons.