I’m trying to simply things in dummy terms so I remember it easier rather than memorizing a definition I want to understand it on a basic level. A Neutron is an uncharged elementary particle that equals a protons mass in a nucleus this stabilizing it, I also know that in an atom there has to be equal amounts of neutrons and protons, and that the neutrons act as a sort of binder, so what sort of analogy or explanation could be used to describe it? Does a Neutron sort of act like the Mortar for a Brick Structure? Or like the glue that keeps protons from falling apart?
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Lots of good explanations here, but I think I have a good analogy. Obligatory only have first year uni physics, so not an expert (that and watched a load of PBS space time videos).
Imagine you have a gymnasium. You also have a bunch of people, some wearing green, some wearing grey. The green shirts are protons and grey are neutrons.
When you make an atom, you take some resistance bands and wrap them around each pair of people. The bands are the nuclear force, a very strong pull up to the point that the band breaks. The pull goes to zero after it breaks, and the person flies off to go where they want. Probably for ice cream.
The green shirts really like pushing each other. So you have a lot of bands, but multiple green shirts push each other and can push to where the bands break. Neutrons aren’t into the pushing game. They just stand the with the bands around them and hang out. The neutrons have anger problems, and the protons are afraid to push them because they’ll get beat up. (Okay, ascribing motive to the protons not pushing on neutrons is a stretch, but it helps the analogy).
So, the neutrons add extra force bands to hold things together. They also act as a barrier to keep the protons from pushing each other too much.
Hopefully, that all makes sense and also isn’t an oversimplification.
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