Nuclear charge number is the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom.

See also Mass Number, Ordinal Number.

Neutron capture is a process in which a neutron collides with a nucleus and becomes part of this nucleus caused by nuclear forces. It interacts without release of another heavy particle. A gamma ray photon is emitted as an immediate result of the neutron capture process. Through the neutron capture the nucleus becomes a heavier isotope of the same element. The kind of decay depends on the isotope and its stability.
This process is for example part of the neutron activation analysis, in which a sample is positioned in a neutron beam and also used in the 'boron neutron capture therapy'.

See also Thermal Neutrons, Epithermal Neutron, Neutron Activation Analysis, Nuclear Charge Number, Deuteron, Isomeric Transition, Isotones, N P Reaction.

An accelerator uses electrostatic or electromagnetic fields to increase the kinetic energy of charged particles (see alpha particle, beta particle) in order to produce ionization or a nuclear reaction in a target.
Accelerators (see cyclotron, linear accelerator) are used for the production of radionuclides (see Fluorine-18, Molybdenum, Technetium-99m) or directly for radiation therapy. Accelerator-produced radioactive material (ARM) is any radioactive substance that is produced by a particle accelerator. The accelerators used for radiation therapy generate gamma rays (also called Bremsstrahlung) with continuous energy by collision of high energy electrons on materials with high density (also referred as 'high z' - chemical elements with a high atomic number (Z)).
Electron accelerators with energies above 10 MeV can also produce neutrons induced by photons in the accelerator head material (mainly caused by photo nuclear reaction).

In the periodic systems of elements the ordinal number sorts elements by their nuclear charge (their protons).

See also Nucleus, Proton and Mass Number.