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Atomic Tuesday:  The Magic Numbers of Nuclear Physics. by Rich Feldenberg Similar to the way electrons reside in atomic orbitals around the atom, the protons and neutrons that make the atomic nucleus are also organized into orbitals or shells.  The Nuclear Shell Model addresses the structure and energy levels associated with these nuclear shells.  No two protons or neutrons (nucleons) can be found in the same shell if they contain the same quantum state (again very similar to the quantum rules followed by electrons going into atom orbitals- Pauli exclusion principle).  Each energy shell can hold up to a certain “magic number” of protons or neutrons, but all nucleons within the shell must be of different quantum states.  If all the quantum states for that shell are already taken, then they will go to the next available shell.  The magic numbers are 2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82, and 126 – indicating the number of nucleons possible in each of

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