If neutrons decay into proton, electron and (anti)neutrino of electron type, then is it safe to say that atoms are protons, electrons and neutrinos?
3 Answers
No. The decay products of a certain particle are not equivalent to its constituents. This is evident especially in the context of fundamental particles: quarks can decay into other particles, but that does not mean that a quark is not elementary (see my answer to this question).
Nuclei are made of neutrons and protons, which in turn consist of quarks and gluons, and hence, on an elementary level, atoms are made of electrons, quarks and gluons.
- 15,932
No. The atoms are protons, electrons and neutrons. The fact that neutrons beta decay into a proton + electron + electron antineutrino does not mean that neutrons are made of a proton and electron and a neutrino.
- 473
According to Grand Unification Theory, protons can decay into electron (even at low energy; just the probability is very low). It doesn't mean you can replace proton with electron.
- 5,130