nuclear spin espin-e haste-yi Fr.: spin nucléaire The total → angular momentum of a → nucleus, represented by symbol I. The nucleus, which is composed of neutrons and protons, acts as if it is a single entity which has intrinsic angular momentum. The nuclear spin depends on the → mass number; if the mass number is odd then the nucleus has half-integer spin like the electron while if the nucleus has even mass number then its spin will be integer spin. |