Nuclear Physics: Exploring The Heart Of Matter -

Because protons are all positively charged, they naturally want to repel each other.

) Decay: A neutron turns into a proton (or vice-versa), emitting an electron or positron. Gamma ( Nuclear Physics: Exploring the Heart of Matter

The nucleus is composed of : positively charged protons and neutral neutrons. These are not elementary particles themselves; they are made of even smaller entities called quarks (specifically up and down quarks) held together by the strong force via the exchange of gluons. Licensed by Google 2. Fundamental Forces at Play Two competing forces define the stability of a nucleus: Because protons are all positively charged, they naturally