- #1
quinteboy
- 2
- 0
Hi
I'm looking for a good description (high-school to 1st year level) why the ratio of protons to neutrons matters for stability. Single neutrons are unstable, but in a nucleus they are stable and the more nucleons you have the greater the strong force. So why can't you have stable isotopes say uranium where excess neutrons increase the binding energy per nucleon ratio to a point to make the atom stable?
I'm looking for a good description (high-school to 1st year level) why the ratio of protons to neutrons matters for stability. Single neutrons are unstable, but in a nucleus they are stable and the more nucleons you have the greater the strong force. So why can't you have stable isotopes say uranium where excess neutrons increase the binding energy per nucleon ratio to a point to make the atom stable?