Nuclear density
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Nuclear density is the density of the nucleus of an atom, averaging about 1018 kg/m3. The descriptive term nuclear density is also applied to situations where similarly high densities occur, such as within neutron stars.
The components of an atom and of an atomic nucleus have varying densities. The proton is not a fundamental particle, being composed of quark-gluon matter. Its size is approximately 10-15 meters and its density 1018 kg/m3. Using deep inelastic scattering, it has been estimated that the "size" of an electron, if it is not a point particle, must be less than 10-17 meters. This would correspond to a density of roughly 1021 kg/m3.
Probing deeper within particles, one finds quarks which appear to be very dense and very hard. There are possibilities for still higher densities when it comes to quark matter, gluon matter, or neutrino matter. In the immediate future, the highest experimentally measurable densities will likely be limited to leptons and quarks.
[edit] See also
- Nuclear equation of state
- Nuclear matter
- Quark-gluon plasma
- Nuclear compressibility
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