When a nucleus has a ‘magic’ number of neutrons or protons, it is particularly stable. But it seems that for exotic nuclei, with large numbers of neutrons relative to protons, these magic ...

Gaps in nuclear levels, which cause nuclei with ‘magic’ numbers of protons or neutrons to be especially stable, seem to be different for nuclei with an excess of neutrons. But are all magic ...

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 ...

These nuclei had specific numbers of protons or neutrons, or magic numbers, as physicist Eugene Wigner called them. Maria Goeppert Mayer won the 1963 Nobel Prize in physics. Argonne National ...

Magic numbers and nuclei shapes Similar to how noble gases represent stable electronic configurations, magic and doubly magic nuclei result in stable nuclei. These "magic numbers" are 2, 8, 20, 28 ...

A nucleus holds a magic number of protons or neutrons when the particles completely fill its shells without any room left for adding more, rendering it stable and longer-lived than other nuclei ...

Scientists have demonstrated that the magic numbers 20 and 28 disappear from all neutron-rich magnesium isotopes, thereby establishing a new, larger area of nuclear deformation in the nuclear chart.

It is therefore termed “doubly magic” and is extremely stable. Other magic numbers include 8, 20, 28, 50, 82 and 126. However, there are significant exceptions to this shell model of the nucleus and ...

Researchers have come one step closer to understanding unstable atomic nuclei. Scientists have now provided evidence for a new nuclear magic number in the unstable, radioactive calcium isotope 54Ca.

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 ...

Nuclei that contain magic numbers of both protons and neutrons are even more stable and are said to be “doubly magic”. The magic numbers are 2, 8, 20, 28, 50 and 82. However, it had been thought that ...