See Also: Neutron(medicine)
neutron(encyclopedia)
neutron(dictionary)
neutron(dictionary)
thermal neutron(medicine)
neutron bomb(dictionary)
neutron star(encyclopedia)
neutron bomb(encyclopedia)
fast neutron(medicine)
neutron radiation(medicine)

neutron (iou)



neutron noun. E20.
[from NEUTRAL adjective + -ON.]
Physics. An electrically uncharged subatomic particle of slightly greater mass than the proton, which is a constituent (with the proton) of all atomic nuclei except that of the common isotope of hydrogen.
fast neutron, photoneutron, slow neutron, thermal neutron, etc.
Comb.: neutron activation the process of making a substance radioactive by irradiating it with neutrons; neutron bomb a kind of atomic bomb producing large numbers of neutrons but little blast, and consequently harmful to life but not destructive of property; neutron capture the absorption of a neutron by an atomic nucleus; neutron diffraction: of a beam of neutrons; neutron excess the excess of the number of neutrons in an atomic nucleus over the number of protons; neutron number the mass number of a nucleus minus its atomic number, taken as being the number of neutrons it contains; neutron radiography: employing a beam of neutrons; neutron star Astronomy an extremely small dense star composed predominantly of closely packed neutrons and thought to form by the collapse of a star under its own gravity (cf. PULSAR); neutron therapy Medicine radiation therapy employing a beam of neutrons.
neu'tronic adjective of, pertaining to, or employing neutrons M20.