Properties of a neutron?

Question

is it possible that the neutron does have a charge but not positive or negative charge?
could it be the reason why electrons down spiral down into the nucleus?
could it be the reason why the nucleus doesnt break apart due to the closely back protons?
is it possible that there more to charge then the simple positive an negative?

this is just the bases of my idea/theory but if u would just tell me its wrong or its a possibility i would very grateful because its been bugging me for a while

Answer 1

Those are quite valid questions to ask, even though they could really annoy a teacher. Physicists have been thinking about the same things, and after close to a hundred years of theory and experimental observation, a lot of those questions are explained with the quark theory. Quarks have fractional charges of +1/3 and -1/3, and combinations of them can produce shor-lived particles of +2/3 and -2/3 charges. Both neutrons and protons are composed of 3 quarks, resulting in a net charge of 0 for the neutron, and +1 for the proton. So, to answer your first question, the neutron only has a NET "0" charge, but the real picture is vastly more complex. For your 2nd question, electrons don't spiral down because of quantization of energy, they cannot have less than a certain minimum of orbital energy, or else they simply leave. The nucleus doesn't break apart because of the complex interactions between the quarks making up the nucleons, and, yes, there's more to charge than just simple positive or negative. Good thinking, but physicists have got there before you did.

Answer 2

The short answer is that charge if it exists can only be in two states, negative and positive.
Obviously all definitions created by man can be changed, but in science if we change a definition like "charge is either positive or negative" the changes are very far reaching. The fact that the electronics business has been so successful in improving the speed and complexity of the equipment we have available leads me to believe that the definition that charge is either negative or positive is a very useful approximation of reality. The Neutron has a rest mass that is equivalent to the combination of an electron and a proton. This is consistent with the idea that helium is created in the extremely dense center of stars. Neutrons and Protons experience an attractive force called Nuclear force. It is the extremely short distance Nuclear force that overcomes the electrical repulsion of the protons in the nucleus. I am not sure how much electron spiraling into the nucleus can be happening. Extreme conditions like the highly energetic and dense centers of stars seem to be the only place that neutrons are created. I assume that neutrons have also been created in cyclotrons by having a stream of electrons run into a stream of protons traveling opposite directions.

Having said all this, there continues to be an effort to find one expresion that explains all four of the natural forces of nature simultaneously. Einstein spent most of his adult life trying to find a Grand Unified Theory. The tools he had available were not up to the task but modern string theory may solve the problem this century.