Atomic Nucleus Size Calculator
The size of an atomic nucleus is determined by the number of its nucleons, i.e., the nuclear building blocks protons and neutrons combined. The volume is linearly dependent on this number, while the radius and diameter are calculated from the cube root of the number of nucleons, as these are one-dimensional quantities. This calculation is only an approximation, albeit a fairly good one. However, an atomic nucleus does not have entirely precise boundaries; these are smeared by quantum mechanical effects with a certain probability distribution. Radius, diameter, and volume therefore refer to average values.
For these calculations, it is assumed that the atomic nucleus is spherical, which is true for most nuclei, except for very heavy and excited nuclei. For other shapes, the radius and diameter require interpretation, and the volume can be very complicated to calculate. The formula for calculating the radius is r = 1,2 * 10-15 m * 3√A with the number of nucleons A. 10-15 meters is also called a femtometer. The diameter is, of course, this value times two. The volume of a sphere is 4/3 * π * r³. The unit is then 10-45 cubic meters.
Please specify the number of nucleons, radius, diameter, volume, and the power for the unit of volume will be calculated.
Example: The atomic nucleus of the carbon isotope C12, which is frequently used as a reference for chemical calculations, has 12 nucleons and thus a radius of approximately 2.7 femtometers. Its diameter is therefore 5.5 femtometers. The calculated volume is then 8,7 * 10-44 cubic meters.
These calculations refer exclusively to atomic nuclei. The atoms themselves, including their shells, are considerably larger, approximately ten thousand to one hundred thousand times larger by length. Furthermore, their sizes are not so easy to calculate linearly; they increase sharply at the beginning of a new electron shell, only to decrease again with additional electrons. Finally, the electrons are much more smeared than the nucleons.
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