Charge radius the composite particle must be modeled as a sphere of negative rather than positive electric charge for the interpretation of electron scattering experiments. In these cases, the square of the charge radius of the particle is defined to be negative, with the same absolute value with units of length squared equal to the positive squared charge radius that it would have had if it was identical in all other respects but each quark in the particle had the opposite electric charge (with the charge radius itself having a value that is an imaginary number with units of length). It is
Alpha particle less likely to be referred to as "alpha particles". The best-known source of alpha particles is alpha decay of heavier (> 106 u atomic weight) atoms. When an atom emits an alpha particle in alpha decay, the atom's mass number decreases by four due to the loss of the four nucleons in the alpha particle. The atomic number of the atom goes down by exactly two, as a result of the loss of two protons – the atom becomes a new element. Examples of this sort of nuclear transmutation are when uranium becomes thorium, or radium becomes radon gas, due