How do scientists add neutrons to elements to turn them into different elements?
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The element that an atom belongs to is defined by the number of protons it has, not the number of neutrons. An atom with one proton is a hydrogen atom, an atom with two protons is a helium atom, etc. The number of neutrons in an atom can vary without changing the element- for example, a hydrogen atom may have one neutron. Add another neutron and it stays hydrogen, but add a proton and it becomes helium.
The amount of energy it takes to change the number of neutrons or protons in an atom is enormous. If you’re looking at a textbook that phrases something like “adding a proton to hydrogen turns it into helium”, that’s a poorly worded way of asking you to compare the structure a hydrogen and helium atom, not an experiment that can happen in a lab. Changing one element to another typically only takes place at the centre of stars. In fact, to the best of my knowledge, human scientists have NEVER been able to add protons or neutrons to an atom to make it heavier (nuclear fusion). Splitting an atom into smaller elements is easier, however (nuclear fission). This happens in nuclear reactors and nuclear bombs, and consists of smashing atoms into each other until they break apart into smaller atoms.
Does not answer the question but the intro talks about the man who first did it.
If (say) you have a clump of Bismuth, and bombard it with neutrons, then some will get close enough to the nucleus to be captured by the strong nuclear forces.
For example, if Bismuth-209 is bombarded with neutrons, some of them will capture the neutrons to become Bismuth-210.
Obviously that’s still Bismuth, but the difference is that Bismuth-209 is (for all practical purposes) stable, but Bismuth-210 is not. Bismuth-210 will decay to Polonium-210 within a week or so, which in turn decays to Lead-206 within a number of months.
And so, by bombarding the Bismuth with neutrons, some of it is turned into Lead.
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