A particle that is stable, bears a positive charge equal in magnitude to that of the electron, and has a mass of 1.672 614×10−27 kg, which is 1836.12 times that of the electron. The proton occurs in all atomic nuclei (the hydrogen nucleus consists of a single proton). The proton is not now considered to be an elementary particle, because it is now known to consist of three quarks held together by gluons.