Atom, smallest unit into which matter can be divided without the release of electrically charged particles. It also is the smallest unit of matter that has the characteristic properties of a chemical element. As such, the atom is the basic building block of chemistry. Protons are a type of subatomic particle with a positive charge. Protons are bound together in an atom's nucleus as a result of the strong nuclear force. Neutrons are a type of subatomic particle with no charge (they are neutral). Like protons, neutrons are bound into the atom's nucleus as a result of the strong nuclear force. A proton is one of the three main subatomic particles that make up an atom. The other two being neutron and electron. The common symbol for a proton is p or p +. The nucleus of a hydrogen atom or H + ion is an example of a proton. The word 'proton' came from the Greek word meaning 'first'. Proton, stable subatomic particle that has a positive charge equal in magnitude to a unit of electron charge and a rest mass of 1.67262 x 10^-27 kg, which is 1,836 times the mass of an electron. Protons, together with electrically neutral particles called neutrons, make up all atomic nuclei except for that of hydrogen. The proton is a subatomic particle with a positive electrical charge. They are found in every atomic nucleus of every element. In almost every element, protons are accompanied by neutrons. The only exception is the nucleus of the simplest element, hydrogen. Hydrogen contains only a single proton and no neutrons. The proton is, in effect, the index particle of any atom. It is the number of protons in an atom that determines the identity of the element an atom belongs to; in other words, if two atoms have a different number of protons, they are not the same element. .

what is proton in atom