DISCOVERY OF PROTON IN FULL DETAILS


The existence of protons in the atoms was shown by Eugen Goldstein . When Goldstein passed electricity at high voltage through a gas at very low pressure taken in a discharge tube , streams
of heavy particles were given out by the anode (positive electrode ). These streams of particles are called anode rays.
Anode rays consist of positively charged particles. the mass and charge of anode ray particles depends on the nature of gas taken in the discharge tube.
different gases give  different types of anode rays which contain positively charged particles having different  masses and different charges.
Hydrogen gas is the lightest gas and Hydrogen atom is the lightest atom. So, the positive particles obtained from hydrogen gas are the lightest and have the smallest charge.
The anode rays obtained from hydrogen gas are made up of the same types positive particles. These particles are called protons. Thus, the anode rays obtained from hydrogen gas consist 
of protons.  A protons is formed by the removal of an electron from a hydrogen atom.

Goldstein explained the formation of protons as follows. Hydrogen gas consists of hydrogen atoms.When high electrical voltage  is applied to hydrogen gas , the electrical
energy remove the electrons from the hydrogen atoms. After the removal of negatively charged electron from a hydrogen atom, a positively charged particle called protons is formed.
these fast moving protons form the anode rays. Please note that hydrogen atoms are the lightest of all the atoms, so hydrogen atoms form the lightest positively charged particles called 
protons. The heavier atoms of other gases form heavier positively charged particles which are made up of a number of protons held together . We can now define a proton as follow.
The protons is a positively charged particles found in the atoms of all the elements . The protons are located in the nucleus of an atom. Only hydrogen atom contains one
proton in its nucleus, atoms of all other elements contain more than one proton.A proton usually represented by the symbol p+ (p for protons and plus sign for positive charge).

Characteristics of a protons.

1. Mass of protons.
 The proton is actually a hydrogen atom which has lost its electron. Since  the mass of an electron is very small , we can say that the mass of a protons

is equal to the mass of a hydrogen atom. But the mass of hydrogen atom is 1u , therefore, the relative mass of a protons is 1u . If , however, we compare  the mass of a protons with that of an 
electron , then the mass of a protons is 1840 times that of an electron. the absolute mass of a proton is 1.6*10^-24 gram.

2. Charge of a protons .
  The charge of a protons is equal and  opposite to the charge of an electron. So the absolute charge of a  proton is 1.6*10^-19 coulomb of positive charge.

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