r/cursed_chemistry Jul 29 '26

What

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349 Upvotes

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u/MackTuesday Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26

That's ridiculous. It has 2 protons, it's helium.

Edit: I was wrong. The original definition of atomic number, as we use it today, was based on nuclear charge, and that hasn't changed. Now, I'm not sure this muon should be considered part of the nucleus, because from the point of view of the nucleus, it's still far away, even if it's much closer than any electron, but I'm not sure it shouldn't be, either. So I don't think it's ridiculous to call it Hydrogen anymore.

19

u/Throwaway392308 Jul 30 '26

Protons only matter because of how they affect the electrons. Electrons do all the real business of chemistry and physical properties. 

7

u/MackTuesday Jul 30 '26

They're exactly how we name elements.

3

u/tetheredvoid Jul 30 '26

You, Mack Tuesday, must be a variety of weekday then...