system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Do neutrons bound to stable atoms decay the same way protons do over long timescales?

As in do the protons in an atom have to decay first untill the atom becomes an unstable isotope, making the neutrons decay into protons, and then the newly formed protons decay again. Or can neutrons decay into elementary particles directly in a similar way protons can? 
I know that the existance of proton decay is not confirmed, and some scientist may even say its unlikely. But does the hypothesis also include bound neutron decay?
gpt
A nucleus containing protons and neutrons fills two sets of quantum states, one for neutrons and one for protons. You then calculate the total energy for that configuration. 

Now you check what would happen to the energy if you fill the same quantum states with one more proton and one less neutron, plus an electron and an (anti-) neutrino. If the total energy is less than what you originally had, one neutron will beta decay to a proton. 

It is the total energy of the system that decides if the system is stable or not, not the properties of the individual constituent particles.