Protons are tiny particles just a femtometer across, but without them, atoms wouldn't exist. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

The word magic is not often used in the context of science. But in the early 1930s, scientists discovered that some atomic nuclei—the center part of atoms, which make up all matter—were more stable ...

Intriguingly, these scientists noticed that very particular numbers of protons and neutrons appeared to result in unusually stable nuclei, and these values became known as magic numbers. "The magic ...