system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
How does radiation affect the nucleus of an atom?

In chemistry/physics, you always hear about radiation exciting electrons to higher energy levels whenever they absorb a photon.

How does this work when looking at the protons in the nucleus of an atom? I've never heard about protons absorbing photons, or having discrete energy levels. But because they are a charged particle, surely they are affected by electromagnetic radiation, right?

Any insight would be appreciated :)
gpt
Yes, nuclei have discrete energy levels too, but the excitation energies are typically on the order of hundreds of keV to a few MeV in low- and mid-mass nuclei. So in order to excite a nucleus, a photon usually needs to be a gamma ray or at least a hard x-ray.