Is the Nucleus Fundamental?
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Many years later, scientists found - studying radioactive decay processes - that the
nucleus was composed of protons (p) and neutrons (n)
.
But are protons and neutrons fundamental?
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It turns out that even protons and neutrons aren't fundamental -- they are
comprised of more fundamental particles called
quarks
.
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Physicists now believe that the quarks
and the electrons ARE fundamental.
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(However, this requires more experiments to prove.)