neutron
noun
ˈnyü-\
Definition of neutron
: an uncharged elementary particle that has a mass nearly equal to that of the proton and is present in all known atomic nuclei except the hydrogen nucleus
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Other Words from neutron
nyü-
\
adjective
Examples of neutron in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
When this collision occurs, the proton transforms into a neutron and ejects a positron, the antimatter version of an electron. — Kenneth Chang, New York Times, "How to Spot a Nuclear Bomb Program? Look for Ghostly Particles," 27 Mar. 2018 Russia has the world's only fast-neutron test reactor. — Adrian Cho, Science | AAAS, "Congress pushes for multibillion-dollar nuclear reactor that critics call a boondoggle," 3 July 2018 Most people with a semester of chemistry under their belt understand that atoms are made up of protons, neutrons and electrons. — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "The Large Hadron Collider Is Getting A Huge Power Boost," 19 June 2018 Patla wanted to see if the magnetic interactions in two different atoms, even though they are assembled from different numbers of protons, electrons, and neutrons, would behave the same way over time and space. — Sophia Chen, WIRED, "These Physicists Watched a Clock Tick for 14 Years Straight," 4 June 2018 Some flashes occur as a result of collisions by stray neutrons and other background radioactivity. — Davide Castelvecchi, Scientific American, "Beguiling Dark-Matter Signal Persists 20 Years on," 2 Apr. 2018 Later, researchers would learn that cosmic-ray neutrons can slam into processor parts, corrupting their data. — Sarah Scoles, WIRED, "Cosmic Ray Showers Crash Supercomputers. Here's What to Do About It," 4 June 2018 Those tidal interactions sucked away even more orbital energy, tightening the neutron stars’ orbit and hastening their collision. — Joshua Sokol, Scientific American, "Gravitational Waves Reveal the Hearts of Neutron Stars," 5 June 2018 That is because oxygen−16, containing two fewer neutrons and therefore lighter than oxygen−18, evaporates more easily from the ocean but does not rain out again as readily. — Christopher Mooney, BostonGlobe.com, "Scientists may have solved a huge riddle that led to more than 1,000 years of cold on Earth. It doesn’t bode well," 12 July 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'neutron.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for neutron
neutron
noun
English Language Learners Definition of neutron
physics : a very small particle of matter that has no electrical charge and is part of the nucleus of all atoms except hydrogen atoms
See the full definition for neutron in the English Language Learners Dictionary
neutron
noun
ˈnyü-\
Kids Definition of neutron
: a particle that has a mass nearly equal to that of the proton but no electrical charge and that is present in all atomic nuclei except those of hydrogen
neutron
noun
\
Medical Definition of neutron
: an uncharged elementary particle that has a mass nearly equal to that of the proton and is present in all known atomic nuclei except the hydrogen nucleus
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