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SUTRA I (Ajivakāya)
11
(See Fig. 2.) In the same way an atom of helium gas contains
ELECTRON
ORBIT
PROTON
ORBIT
The atom of hydrogen.
Fig. 2 two protons and two neutrons" in the centre and two electrons moving round the central nucleus." Then there are atoms with three protons in the centre and three electrons going round and so on, until in the heaviest atom of uranium metal there are 92 protons in the centre and 92 electrons going round them in different orbits. In each case the number of protons is equal to the number of electrons. The atoms of iron, copper, silver, and gold consist, respectively, of 26, 29, 47 and 79 protons and electrons each and the number of neutrons are 30, 35, 79 and 118 respectively. In the nuclius, the number of neutrons differs in different atoms. In the nucleii of Helium, Lithium and Beryllium atoms there are respectively 2, 4 and 5 neutrons and so on. In Figure 3 are shown of helium, lithium and beryllium. The
Helium
Beryllium.
Lithium. Fig. 3.
33. A neutron is another fundamental particle consisting of a Proton and an electron in very close union with each other. It is a neutral particle without any electrical charge.
34. The nucleus of an atom may consist of one or more number of protons.
