History of the Atom

By: Callie Reich and Chloe’ Pruitt

James Chadwick

October 20, 1891- July 24, 1974

Discovered the Neutron in 1932 in Cambridge,

England

Importance of the Neutron

• The neutron was used to calculate the mass of neutral particles. The neutron keeps the atom stable and maintains their strong repulsive force between all the protons in the nucleus. Neutrons are one of the three principle subatomic particles in the atom. Neutrons allow for the binding of protons together to create atomic nuclei heavier than hydrogen. The neutron is in all the elements of the periodic table other then Hydrogen.

Random Facts

• James Chadwick won a Nobel prize in physics in 1935• He was captured as prisoner of war and was sent to

the Zivilgefangenenlager prison in Rueben, Germany• James Chadwick began to attend a university at age

17.• Chadwick won a scholarship enabling him to go to

Berlin, Germany to work in Hans Geiger’s laboratory. • Chadwick was asked by the British government about

building an atomic bomb.