质子（Proton）是一种带有1个单位电荷正电的稳定强子，通常标记为p或p+。每个原子的原子核内部至少会含有一个质子，质子的数量称为原子序数；另外，还可能含有中子，这些质子与中子都被称为核子。由于每种元素的原子都含有独特数量的质子，每种元素具有独特的原子序数。

1917年，欧内斯特·卢瑟福做实验发现，使用α粒子撞击氮原子核，可以提取氢原子核。卢瑟福因此推断，氢原子核是氮原子核与所有更重的原子核的基础材料。由于这重要结果，卢瑟福被公认为质子的发现者。

在粒子物理学的现代标准模型里，质子是由两个上夸克与一个下夸克组成的强子。夸克的静质量只贡献出大约1%质子质量，剩余的质子质量主要源自于夸克的动能与捆绑夸克的胶子场的能量。

A proton is a subatomic particle, symbol p or p+, with a positive electric charge of +1e elementary charge and mass slightly less than that of a neutron. Protons and neutrons, each with masses of approximately one atomic mass unit, are collectively referred to as "nucleons". One or more protons are present in the nucleus of every atom. The number of protons in the nucleus is the defining property of an element, and is referred to as the atomic number (represented by the symbol Z). Since each element has a unique number of protons, each element has its own unique atomic number. The word proton is Greek for "first", and this name was given to the hydrogen nucleus by Ernest Rutherford in 1920. In previous years Rutherford had discovered that the hydrogen nucleus (known to be the lightest nucleus) could be extracted from the nuclei of nitrogen by collision. Protons were therefore a candidate to be a fundamental particle and a building block of nitrogen and all other heavier atomic nuclei.