Do neutrons decay?

Yes, neutrons decay all the time when they go out of their safe area, which is the nuclei. When they go out of the nuclei, they would probably start to decay in about 15 minutes. They can decay into different particles. They may become protons, electrons, and a type of electron neutrino. This explains why neutrons are very important when creating nuclear reactors.

Those who are making them should make sure that neutrons will not go out of the nuclear reactors because if they start to leak, they can cause some reaction problems that will make the whole process fail. Do remember that neutron decay may also happen when there are too many protons in the nuclei.

The free neutrons and their state of decaying is feasible because the mass of neutrons is larger than the sum of the masses of both the proton and the electron it decays into. But when a neutron is paired with a proton, the resulting decay is not energy feasible, so these neutrons are stable within the nuclei.


The process of a neutron decaying into a proton, an electron, and antineutrino is quite interesting. This is referred to as neutron beta decay. This unique term beta ray was commonly used to describe electrons in nuclear decays because they did not know they were electrons. So it seems neutrons decay at varying levels.

Yes, neutrons always decay but it has not yet observed to decay. The life of a neutron outside the nuclei only lasts for 886 seconds. When neutrons decay, they turn into a proton, then an electron, and lastly into an antineutrino.

Depending on the energy levels inside the nuclei is the cause of the decay of neutrons especially when there is a weak interaction. But scientists do not still solve the mystery of why is there an interaction? Why is it not strong?

They only decay when they are by themselves and when not inside a nucleus. The process of a decaying neutron to antineutrino is called neutron beta decay.