The proton and the first artificial nuclear transmutation
Protón y primera transmutación nuclear artificial
- Date
- 1917-1919 · confidence high
- Place
- University of Manchester, England, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- Ernest Rutherford
- People
- 👤 Ernest Rutherford1871–1937
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
By bombarding nitrogen with alpha particles, Rutherford knocks out hydrogen nuclei, converting nitrogen into oxygen: the first man-made nuclear reaction. He identifies the hydrogen nucleus as a constituent of all nuclei and names it the proton (1920).
The work was completed in Manchester just before Rutherford moved to direct the Cavendish.
What it led to
- Experimental nuclear physics
- Prediction of the neutron (Rutherford, 1920)
- Accelerators for splitting nuclei (Cockcroft-Walton, 1932)
- Artificial radioactivity
Built on
- Alpha, beta and gamma rays; radioactive decay law1899-1903
- The atomic nucleus1911
- Prout's hypothesis (1815)
Made possible
- Particle accelerators
- Production of artificial isotopes