Material Properties

If the splitting releases energy and the fusion releases the energy, so where is the breaking point? For understanding this issue it is better to relate the binding energy to one nucleon, to obtain nuclear binding curve. The binding energy per one nucleon is not linear. There is a peak in the binding energy curve in the region of stability near iron and this means that either the breakup of heavier nuclei than iron or the combining of lighter nuclei than iron will yield energy.

The reason the trend reverses after iron peak is the growing positive charge of the nuclei. The electric force has greater range than strong nuclear force. While the strong nuclear force binds only close neighbors the electric force of each proton repels the other protons.

What is Neutron

A neutron is one of the subatomic particles that make up matter. In the universe, neutrons are abundant, making up more than half of all visible matter. It has no electric charge and a rest mass equal to 1.67493 × 10−27 kg—marginally greater than that of the proton but nearly 1839 times greater than that of the electron. The neutron has a mean square radius of about 0.8×10−15 m, or 0.8 fm, and it is a spin-½ fermion.

The neutrons exist in the nuclei of typical atoms, along with their positively charged counterparts, the protons. Neutrons and protons, commonly called nucleons, are bound together in the atomic nucleus, where they account for 99.9 percent of the atom’s mass. Research in high-energy particle physics in the 20th century revealed that neither the neutron nor the proton is not the smallest building block of matter. Protons and neutrons have also their structure. Inside the protons and neutrons, we find true elementary particles called quarks. Within the nucleus, protons and neutrons are bound together through the strong force, a fundamental interaction that governs the behaviour of the quarks that make up the individual protons and neutrons.

A nuclear stability is determined by the competition between two fundamental interactions. Protons and neutrons are attracted each other via strong force. On the other hand protons repel each other via the electric force due to their positive charge. Therefore neutrons within the nucleus act somewhat like nuclear glue, neutrons attract each other and protons , which helps offset the electrical repulsion between protons. There are only certain combinations of neutrons and protons, which forms stable nuclei. For example, the most common nuclide of the common chemical element lead (Pb) has 82 protons and 126 neutrons.

Because of the strength of the nuclear force at short distances, the nuclear binding energy (the energy required to disassemble a nucleus of an atom into its component parts) of nucleons is more than seven orders of magnitude larger than the electromagnetic energy binding electrons in atoms. Nuclear reactions (such as nuclear fission or nuclear fusion) therefore have an energy density that is more than 10 000 000x that of chemical reactions.
Knowledge of the behaviour and properties of neutrons is essential to the production of nuclear power. Shortly after the neutron was discovered in 1932, it was quickly realized that neutrons might act to form a nuclear chain reaction. When nuclear fission was discovered in 1938, it became clear that, if a fission reaction produced free neutrons, each of these neutrons might cause further fission reaction in a cascade known as a chain reaction. Knowledge of cross-sections (the key parameter representing probability of interaction between a neutron and a nucleus) became crutial for design of reactor cores and the first nuclear weapon (Trinity, 1945).

Structure of the Neutron

Neutrons and protons are classified as hadrons, subatomic particles that are subject to the strong force and as baryons since they are composed of three quarks. The neutron is a composite particle made of two down quarks with charge −⅓  e and one up quark with charge +⅔ e. Since the neutron has no net electric charge, it is not affected by eletric forces, but the neutron does have a slight distribution of electric charge within it. This results in non-zero magnetic moment (dipole moment) of the neutron. Therefore the neutron interacts also via electromagnetic interaction, but much weaker than the proton.

The mass of the neutron is 939.565 MeV/c², whereas the mass of the three quarks is only about 12 MeV/c² (only about 1% of the mass-energy of the neutron). Like the proton, most of mass (energy) of the neutron is in the form of the strong nuclear force energy (gluons). The quarks of the neutron are held together by gluons, the exchange particles for the strong nuclear force. Gluons carry the color charge of the strong nuclear force.

See also: Structure of the Neutron

Properties of the Neutron

Key properties of neutrons are summarized below:

• Mean square radius of a neutron is ~ 0.8 x 10^-15m (0.8 fermi)
• The mass of the neutron is 939.565 MeV/c²
• Neutrons are ½ spin particles – fermionic statistics
• Neutrons are neutral particles – no net electric charge.
• Neutrons have non-zero magnetic moment.
• Free neutrons (outside a nucleus) are unstable and decay via beta decay. The decay of the neutron involves the weak interaction and is associated with a quark transformation (a down quark is converted to an up quark).
• Mean lifetime of a free neutron is 882 seconds (i.e. half-life is 611 seconds ).
• A natural neutron background of free neutrons exists everywhere on Earth and it is caused by muons produced in the atmosphere, where high energy cosmic rays collide with particles of Earth’s atmosphere.
• Neutrons cannot directly cause ionization. Neutrons ionize matter only indirectly.
• Neutrons can travel hundreds of feet in air without any interaction. Neutron radiation is highly penetrating.
• Neutrons trigger the nuclear fission.
• The fission process produces free neutrons (2 or 3).
• Thermal or cold neutrons have the wavelengths similar to atomic spacings. They can be used in neutron diffraction experiments to determine the atomic and/or magnetic structure of a material.

See also: Properties of the Neutron

Interactions of Neutrons with Matter

Neutrons are neutral particles, therefore they travel in straight lines, deviating from their path only when they actually collide with a nucleus to be scattered into a new direction or absorbed. Neither the electrons surrounding (atomic electron cloud) a nucleus nor the electric field caused by a positively charged nucleus affect a neutron’s flight. In short, neutrons collide with nuclei, not with atoms. A very descriptive feature of the transmission of neutrons through bulk matter is the mean free path length (λ – lambda), which is the mean distance a neutron travels between interactions. It can be calculated from following equation:

λ=1/Σ

Neutrons may interact with nuclei in one of following ways:

Types of neutron-nuclear reactions

Detection of Neutrons

Since the neutrons are electrically neutral particles, they are mainly subject to strong nuclear forces but not to electric forces. Therefore neutrons are not directly ionizing and they have usually to be converted into charged particles before they can be detected. Generally every type of neutron detector must be equipped with converter (to convert neutron radiation to common detectable radiation) and one of the conventional radiation detectors (scintillation detector, gaseous detector, semiconductor detector, etc.).

Neutron converters

Two basic types of neutron interactions with matter are for this purpose available:

• Elastic scattering. The free neutron can be scattered by a nucleus, transferring some of its kinetic energy to the nucleus. If the neutron has enough energy to scatter off nuclei the recoiling nucleus ionizes the material surrounding the converter. In fact, only hydrogen and helium nuclei are light enough for practical application. Charge produced in this way can be collected by the conventional detector to produce a detected signal. Neutrons can transfer more energy to light nuclei. This method is appropriate for detecting fast neutrons (fast neutrons do not have high cross-section for absorption) allowing detection of fast neutrons without a moderator.
• Neutron absorption. This is a common method allowing detection of neutrons of entire energy spectrum. This method is is based on variety of absorption reactions (radiative capture, nuclear fission, rearrangement reactions, etc.). The neutron is here absorbed by target material (converter) emitting secondary particles such as protons, alpha particles, beta particles, photons (gamma rays) or fission fragments. Some reactions are threshold reactions (requiring a minimum energy of neutrons), but most of reactions occurs at epithermal and thermal energies. That means the moderation of fast neutrons is required leading in poor energy information of the neutrons. Most common nuclei for the neutron converter material are:
  • ¹⁰B(n,α). Where the neutron capture cross-section for thermal neutrons is σ = 3820 barns and the natural boron has abundance of ¹⁰B 19,8%.
  • ³He(n,p). Where the neutron capture cross-section for thermal neutrons is σ = 5350 barns and the natural helium has abundance of ³He 0.014%.
  • ⁶Li(n,α). Where the neutron capture cross-section for thermal neutrons is σ = 925 barns and the natural lithium has abundance of ⁶Li 7,4%.
  • ¹¹³Cd(n,ɣ). Where the neutron capture cross-section for thermal neutrons is σ = 20820 barns and the natural cadmium has abundance of ¹¹³Cd 12,2%.
  • ²³⁵U(n,fission). Where the fission cross-section for thermal neutrons is σ = 585 barns and the natural uranium has abundance of ²³⁵U 0.711%. Uranium as a converter produces fission fragments which are heavy charged particles. This have significant advantage. The heavy charged particles (fission fragments) create a high output signal, because the fragments deposit a large amount of energy in a detector sensitive volume. This allows an easy discrimination of the background radiation (e.i. gamma radiation). This important feature can be used for example in a nuclear reactor power measurement, where the neutron field is accompanied  by a significant gamma background.

See also: Detection of Neutrons

Neutron Sources

A neutron source is any device that emits neutrons. Neutron sources have many applications, they can be used in research, engineering, medicine, petroleum exploration, biology, chemistry and nuclear power. A neutron source is characterized by a number of factors:

• Significance of the source
• Intensity. The rate of neutrons emitted by the source.
• Energy distribution of emitted neutrons.
• Angular distribution of emitted neutrons.
• Mode of emission. Continuous or pulsed operation.

Classification by significance of the source

• Large (Significant) neutron sources
  • Nuclear Reactors. There are nuclei that can undergo fission on their own spontaneously, but only certain nuclei, like uranium-235, uranium-233 and plutonium-239, can sustain a fission chain reaction. This is because these nuclei release neutrons when they break apart, and these neutrons can induce fission of other nuclei. Uranium-235 which exists as 0.7% of naturally occurring uranium undergoes nuclear fission with thermal neutrons with the production of, on average, 2.4 fast neutrons and the release of ~ 180 MeV of energy per fission. Free neutrons released by each fission play very important role as a trigger of the reaction, but they can be also used fo another purpose. For example: One neutron is required to trigger a further fission. Part of free neutrons (let say 0.5 neutrons/fission) is absorbed in other material, but an excess of neutrons (0.9 neutrons/fission) is able to leave the surface of the reactor core and can be used as a neutron source.

• • Fusion Systems. Nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei (e.g. D+T) collide at a very high energy and fuse together. Thy byproduct of DT fusion is a free neutron (see picture), therefore also nuclear fusion reaction has the potential to produces large quantities of neutrons.
  • Spallation Sources. A spallation source is a high-flux neutron source in which protons that have been accelerated to high energies hit a heavy target material, causing the emission of neutrons. The reaction occurs above a certain energy threshold for the incident particle, which is typically 5 – 15 MeV.

• Medium neutron sources
  • Bremssstrahlung from Electron Accelerators / Photofission. Energetic electrons when slowed down rapidly in a heavy target emit intense gamma radiation during the deceleration process. This is known as Bremsstrahlung or braking radiation. The interaction of the gamma radiation with the target produces neutrons via the (γ,n) reaction, or the (γ,fission) reaction when a fissile target is used. e-→Pb → γ→ Pb →(γ,n) and (γ,fission). The Bremsstrahlung γ energy exceeds the binding energy of the “last” neutron in the target. A source strength of 10¹³ neutrons/second produced in short (i.e. < 5 μs) pulses can be readily realised.
  • Dense plasme focus. The dense plasma focus (DPF) is a device that is known as an efficient source of neutrons from fusion reactions. Mechanism of dense plasma focus (DPF) is based on nuclear fusion of short-lived plasma of deuterium and/or tritium. This device produces a short-lived plasma by electromagnetic compression and acceleration that is called a pinch. This plasma is during the pinch hot and dense enough to cause nuclear fusion and the emission of neutrons.
  • Light ion accelerators. Neutrons can be also produced by particle accelerators using targets of deuterium, tritium, lithium, beryllium, and other low-Z materials. In this case the target must be bombarded with accelerated hydrogen (H), deuterium (D), or tritium (T) nuclei.

• Small neutron sources
  • Neutron Generators. Neutrons are produced in the fusion of deuterium and tritium in the following exothermic reaction. ²D + ³T → ⁴He + n + 17.6 MeV.  The neutron is produced with a kinetic energy of 14.1 MeV. This can be achieved on a small scale in the laboratory with a modest 100 kV accelerator for deuterium atoms bombarding a tritium target. Continuous neutron sources of ~10¹¹ neutrons/second can be achieved relatively simply.
  • Radioisotope source – (α,n) reactions. In certain light isotopes the ‘last’ neutron in the nucleus is weakly bound and is released when the compound nucleus formed following α-particle bombardment decays. The bombardment of beryllium by α-particles leads to the production of neutrons by the following exothermic reaction: ⁴He + ⁹Be→¹²C + n + 5.7 MeV. This reaction yields a weak source of neutrons with an energy spectrum resembling that from a fission source and is used nowadays in portable neutron sources. Radium, plutonium or americium can be used as an α-emitter.
  • Radioisotope source – (γ,n) reactions. (γ,n) reactions can also be used for the same purpose. In this type of source, because of the greater range of the γ-ray, the two physical  components of the source can be separated making it possible to ‘switch off’ the reaction if so required by removing the radioactive source from the beryllium. (γ,n) sources produce a monoenergetic neutrons unlike (α,n) sources.  The (γ,n) source uses antimony-124 as the gamma emitter in the following endothermic reaction.

¹²⁴Sb→¹²⁴Te + β− + γ

γ + ⁹Be→⁸Be + n – 1.66 MeV

• • Radioisotope source – spontaneous fission. Certain isotopes undergo spontaneous fission with emission of neutrons. The most commonly used spontaneous fission source is the radioactive isotope californium-252. Cf-252 and all other spontaneous fission neutron sources are produced by irradiating uranium or another transuranic element in a nuclear reactor, where neutrons are absorbed in the starting material and its subsequent reaction products, transmuting the starting material into the SF isotope.

See also: Neutron Sources

See also: Source Neutrons

A chemical element is a species of atom having the same number of protons in their atomic nuclei (that is, the same atomic number, or Z). For example, the atomic number of carbon is 6, so the element carbon consists of all atoms which have exactly 6 protons.

The chemical properties of the atom are determined by the number of protons, in fact, by number and arrangement of electrons. The configuration of these electrons follows from the principles of quantum mechanics. The number of electrons in each element’s electron shells, particularly the outermost valence shell, is the primary factor in determining its chemical bonding behavior. In the periodic table, the elements are listed in order of increasing atomic number Z.

Periodic Table

The periodic table is a tabular arrangement of the chemical elements. It is organized in order of increasing atomic number. There is a recurring pattern called the “periodic law” in their properties, in which elements in the same column (group) have similar properties. Generally, within one row (period) the elements are metals to the left, and non-metals to the right, with the elements having similar chemical behaviours placed in the same column.

Chemical Properties of Elements

Every solid, liquid, gas, and plasma is composed of neutral or ionized atoms. The chemical properties of the atom are determined by the number of protons, in fact, by number and arrangement of electrons. The configuration of these electrons follows from the principles of quantum mechanics. The number of electrons in each element’s electron shells, particularly the outermost valence shell, is the primary factor in determining its chemical bonding behavior. In the periodic table, the elements are listed in order of increasing atomic number Z.

The total number of protons in the nucleus of an atom is called the atomic number (or the proton number) of the atom and is given the symbol Z. The number of electrons in an electrically-neutral atom is the same as the number of protons in the nucleus. The total electrical charge of the nucleus is therefore +Ze, where e (elementary charge) equals to 1,602 x 10^-19coulombs. Each electron is influenced by the electric fields produced by the positive nuclear charge and the other (Z – 1) negative electrons in the atom.

It is the Pauli exclusion principle that requires the electrons in an atom to occupy different energy levels instead of them all condensing in the ground state. The ordering of the electrons in the ground state of multielectron atoms, starts with the lowest energy state (ground state) and moves progressively from there up the energy scale until each of the atom’s electrons has been assigned a unique set of quantum numbers. This fact has key implications for the building up of the periodic table of elements.

Electron Affinity

In chemistry and atomic physics, the electron affinity of an atom or molecule is defined as:

the change in energy (in kJ/mole) of a neutral atom or molecule (in the gaseous phase) when an electron is added to the atom to form a negative ion.

X + e^– → X^– + energy        Affinity = – ∆H

In other words, it can be expressed as the neutral atom’s likelihood of gaining an electron. Note that, ionization energies measure the tendency of a neutral atom to resist the loss of electrons. Electron affinities are more difficult to measure than ionization energies.

A fluorine atom in the gas phase, for example, gives off energy when it gains an electron to form a fluoride ion.

F + e^– → F^–        – ∆H = Affinity = 328 kJ/mol

To use electron affinities properly, it is essential to keep track of sign. When an electron is added to a neutral atom, energy is released. This affinity is known as the first electron affinity and these energies are negative. By convention, the negative sign shows a release of energy. However, more energy is required to add an electron to a negative ion which overwhelms any the release of energy from the electron attachment process. This affinity is known as the second electron affinity and these energies are positive.

Affinities of Non metals vs. Affinities of Metals

• Metals: Metals like to lose valence electrons to form cations to have a fully stable shell. The electron affinity of metals is lower than that of nonmetals. Mercury most weakly attracts an extra electron.
• Nonmetals: Generally, nonmetals have more positive electron affinity than metals. Nonmetals like to gain electrons to form anions to have a fully stable electron shell. Chlorine most strongly attracts extra electrons. The electron affinities of the noble gases have not been conclusively measured, so they may or may not have slightly negative values.

Electronegativity

Electronegativity, symbol χ, is a chemical property that describes the tendency of an atom to attract electrons towards this atom. For this purposes, a dimensionless quantity the Pauling scale, symbol χ, is the most commonly used.

The electronegativity of fluorine is:

χ = 4.0

In general, an atom’s electronegativity is affected by both its atomic number and the distance at which its valence electrons reside from the charged nucleus. The higher the associated electronegativity number, the more an element or compound attracts electrons towards it.

The most electronegative atom, fluorine, is assigned a value of 4.0, and values range down to cesium and francium which are the least electronegative at 0.7.

Ionization Energy

Ionization energy, also called ionization potential, is the energy necessary to remove an electron from the neutral atom.

X + energy → X⁺ + e⁻

where X is any atom or molecule capable of being ionized, X⁺ is that atom or molecule with an electron removed (positive ion), and e⁻ is the removed electron.

A nitrogen atom, for example, requires the following ionization energy to remove the outermost electron.

N + IE → N⁺ + e⁻        IE = 14.5 eV

The ionization energy associated with removal of the first electron is most commonly used. The nth ionization energy refers to the amount of energy required to remove an electron from the species with a charge of (n-1).

1st ionization energy

X → X⁺ + e⁻

2nd ionization energy

X⁺ → X²⁺ + e⁻

3rd ionization energy

X²⁺ → X³⁺ + e⁻

Ionization Energy for different Elements

There is an ionization energy for each successive electron removed. The electrons that circle the nucleus move in fairly well-defined orbits. Some of these electrons are more tightly bound in the atom than others. For example, only 7.38 eV is required to remove the outermost electron from a lead atom, while 88,000 eV is required to remove the innermost electron. Helps to understand reactivity of elements (especially metals, which lose electrons).

In general, the ionization energy increases moving up a group and moving left to right across a period. Moreover:

• Ionization energy is lowest for the alkali metals which have a single electron outside a closed shell.
• Ionization energy increases across a row on the periodic maximum for the noble gases which have closed shells

For example, sodium requires only 496 kJ/mol or 5.14 eV/atom to ionize it. On the other hand neon, the noble gas, immediately preceding it in the periodic table, requires 2081 kJ/mol or 21.56 eV/atom.

See also:

Atom

Strong Interaction – Strong Force

The strong interaction or strong force is one of the four fundamental forces and involves the exchange of the vector gauge bosons known as gluons. In general, the strong interaction is very complicated interaction, because it significantly varies with distance. The strong nuclear force holds most ordinary matter together because it confines quarks into hadron particles such as the proton and neutron. Moreover, the strong force is the force which can hold a nucleus together against the enormous forces of repulsion (electromagnetic force) of the protons is strong indeed. From this point of view, we have to distinguish between:

• Fundamental Strong Force. The fundamental strong force, or the strong force, is a very short range (less than about 0.8 fm, the radius of a nucleon) force, that acts directly between quarks. This force holds quarks together to form protons, neutrons, and other hadron particles. The strong interaction is mediated by the exchange of massless particles called gluons that act between quarks, antiquarks, and other gluons.
• Residual Strong Force. The residual strong force, also known as the nuclear force, is a very short range (about 1 to 3 fm) force, which acts to hold neutrons and protons together in nuclei. In nuclei, this force acts against the enormous repulsive electromagnetic force of the protons. The term residual is associated with the fact, it is the residuum of the fundamental strong interaction between the quarks that make up the protons and neutrons. The residual strong force acts indirectly through the virtual π and ρ mesons, which transmit the force between nucleons that holds the nucleus together.

Electromagnetic Interaction – Electromagnetic Force

The electromagnetic force is the force responsible for all electromagnetic processes. It acts between electrically charged particles. It is infinite-ranged force, much stronger than gravitational force, obeys the inverse square law, but neither electricity nor magnetism adds up in the way that gravitational force does. Since there are positive and negative charges (poles), these charges tend to cancel each other out. Electromagnetism includes the electrostatic force acting between charged particles at rest, and the combined effect of electric and magnetic forces acting between charged particles moving relative to each other.

The photon, the quantum of electromagnetic radiation, is an elementary particle, which is the force carrier of the electromagnetic force. Photons are gauge bosons having no electric charge or rest mass and one unit of spin. Common to all photons is the speed of light, the universal constant of physics. In empty space, the photon moves at c (the speed of light – 299 792 458 metres per second).

Forces between static electrically charged particles are governed by the Coulomb’s law. Coulomb’s Law can be used to calculate the force between charged particles (e.g. two protons). The electrostatic force is directly proportional to the electrical charges of the two particles and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the particles. Coulomb’s Law is stated as the following equation.

Both, the Coulomb’s law and the magnetic force, are summarized in the Lorentz force law. Fundamentally, both magnetic and electric forces are manifestations of an exchange force involving the exchange of photons.

The electromagnetic force plays a major role in determining the internal properties of most objects encountered in daily life. The chemical properties of atoms and molecules are determined by the number of protons, in fact, by number and arrangement of electrons.

Strong Force vs Electromagnetic Force

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See also:

Strong Force

Strong Interaction – Strong Force

The strong interaction or strong force is one of the four fundamental forces and involves the exchange of the vector gauge bosons known as gluons. In general, the strong interaction is very complicated interaction, because it significantly varies with distance. The strong nuclear force holds most ordinary matter together because it confines quarks into hadron particles such as the proton and neutron. Moreover, the strong force is the force which can hold a nucleus together against the enormous forces of repulsion (electromagnetic force) of the protons is strong indeed. From this point of view, we have to distinguish between:

• Fundamental Strong Force. The fundamental strong force, or the strong force, is a very short range (less than about 0.8 fm, the radius of a nucleon) force, that acts directly between quarks. This force holds quarks together to form protons, neutrons, and other hadron particles. The strong interaction is mediated by the exchange of massless particles called gluons that act between quarks, antiquarks, and other gluons.
• Residual Strong Force. The residual strong force, also known as the nuclear force, is a very short range (about 1 to 3 fm) force, which acts to hold neutrons and protons together in nuclei. In nuclei, this force acts against the enormous repulsive electromagnetic force of the protons. The term residual is associated with the fact, it is the residuum of the fundamental strong interaction between the quarks that make up the protons and neutrons. The residual strong force acts indirectly through the virtual π and ρ mesons, which transmit the force between nucleons that holds the nucleus together.

Gravitational Interaction – Gravitational Force

Gravity was the first force to be investigated scientifically. The gravitational force was described systematically by Isaac Newton in the 17th century. Newton stated that the gravitational force acts between all objects having mass (including objects ranging from atoms and photons, to planets and stars) and is directly proportional to the masses of the bodies and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the bodies. Since energy and mass are equivalent, all forms of energy (including light) cause gravitation and are under the influence of it. The range of this force is ∞ and it is weaker than the other forces. This relationship is shown in the equation below.

The equation illustrates that the larger the masses of the objects or the smaller the distance between the objects, the greater the gravitational force. So even though the masses of nucleons are very small, the fact that the distance between nucleons is extremely short may make the gravitational force significant. The gravitational force between two protons that are separated by a distance of 10^-20 meters is about 10^-24 newtons. Gravity is the weakest of the four fundamental forces of physics, approximately 10³⁸ times weaker than the strong force. On the other hand, gravity is additive. Every speck of matter that you put into a lump contributes to the overall overall gravity of the lump. Since it is also a very long range force, it is dominant force at the macroscopic scale, and is the cause of the formation, shape and trajectory (orbit) of astronomical bodies.

Strong Force vs Gravitational Force

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See also:

Strong Force

Electromagnetic Interaction – Electromagnetic Force

The electromagnetic force is the force responsible for all electromagnetic processes. It acts between electrically charged particles. It is infinite-ranged force, much stronger than gravitational force, obeys the inverse square law, but neither electricity nor magnetism adds up in the way that gravitational force does. Since there are positive and negative charges (poles), these charges tend to cancel each other out. Electromagnetism includes the electrostatic force acting between charged particles at rest, and the combined effect of electric and magnetic forces acting between charged particles moving relative to each other.

The photon, the quantum of electromagnetic radiation, is an elementary particle, which is the force carrier of the electromagnetic force. Photons are gauge bosons having no electric charge or rest mass and one unit of spin. Common to all photons is the speed of light, the universal constant of physics. In empty space, the photon moves at c (the speed of light – 299 792 458 metres per second).

Forces between static electrically charged particles are governed by the Coulomb’s law. Coulomb’s Law can be used to calculate the force between charged particles (e.g. two protons). The electrostatic force is directly proportional to the electrical charges of the two particles and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the particles. Coulomb’s Law is stated as the following equation.

Both, the Coulomb’s law and the magnetic force, are summarized in the Lorentz force law. Fundamentally, both magnetic and electric forces are manifestations of an exchange force involving the exchange of photons.

The electromagnetic force plays a major role in determining the internal properties of most objects encountered in daily life. The chemical properties of atoms and molecules are determined by the number of protons, in fact, by number and arrangement of electrons.

Gravitational Interaction – Gravitational Force

Gravity was the first force to be investigated scientifically. The gravitational force was described systematically by Isaac Newton in the 17th century. Newton stated that the gravitational force acts between all objects having mass (including objects ranging from atoms and photons, to planets and stars) and is directly proportional to the masses of the bodies and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the bodies. Since energy and mass are equivalent, all forms of energy (including light) cause gravitation and are under the influence of it. The range of this force is ∞ and it is weaker than the other forces. This relationship is shown in the equation below.

The equation illustrates that the larger the masses of the objects or the smaller the distance between the objects, the greater the gravitational force. So even though the masses of nucleons are very small, the fact that the distance between nucleons is extremely short may make the gravitational force significant. The gravitational force between two protons that are separated by a distance of 10^-20 meters is about 10^-24 newtons. Gravity is the weakest of the four fundamental forces of physics, approximately 10³⁸ times weaker than the strong force. On the other hand, gravity is additive. Every speck of matter that you put into a lump contributes to the overall overall gravity of the lump. Since it is also a very long range force, it is dominant force at the macroscopic scale, and is the cause of the formation, shape and trajectory (orbit) of astronomical bodies.

Electromagnetic Force vs Gravitational Force

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See also:

Electromagnetic Force