What makes an atom of gold different from an atom of iron is the number of protons,

If an atom were about as big as a baseball stadium, the nucleus would be the size of a pea in the very center and the electrons would be somewhere on the outside edge. Note also that this picture isn't drawn to scale! Most of an atom is empty space. Planets going around the Sun or satellites whizzing around Earth, although that's a In simple descriptions of the atom, we often talk about electrons 'orbiting' the nucleus like That's why you'll see someīooks drawing electrons inside fuzzy areas called orbitals.Īrtwork: Atoms contain protons and neutrons packed into the central area called the nucleus, whileĮlectrons occupy the space around it. Moving so incredibly quickly that they turn into blurryĪlmost seem to be everywhere at once. In fact,Įlectrons move so quickly that we never know exactly where they areįrom one moment to the next. Like satellites spinning round the Earth in orbits. When people draw pictures of atoms, they show the electrons Into the center of the atom (which is called the nucleus)Īnd the electrons, which are very much smaller, whizz around the Two piles of very similar bits-but there'd be no iron or goldĭifferent subatomic particles inside them: protons,Īnd electrons. Up an atom of iron, and put the bits into a pile, and then chopped upĪn atom of gold, and put those bits into a second pile, you'd have Means smaller than and these are particles smaller than atoms). Which are called subatomic particles ('sub'

Small and sharp enough, you could chop an atom of gold into bits and you'dįind smaller things inside. In fact, the wordĪtom comes from a Greek word meaning something that cannot be split Were the smallest possible things in the world. Hundreds of thousands of times thinner than a human hair, so you have absolutely noĬhance of ever seeing one unless you have an incredibly powerful Smallest amount of gold you can possibly have. Possible amount of a chemical element-so an atom of gold is the 'flying' in a cube while being stimulated with precision laser light.īy courtesy of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Right kind of microscope or camera! This photo shows strontium atoms Photo: What does an atom look like? You can see one if you have the Think of by joining atoms of different elements together like tiny These are just three of over 100Įlements include metals such as copper, tin, iron and Living things, for example, are mostly made from the atomsĬarbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. (all the 'stuff' that surrounds us) is made from Taking things apart, you'll eventually, find that all matter But what happens if you keep going? If you keep Pips inside apples, hearts and lungs inside people, and stuffing How do atoms make molecules and compounds?.

Atoms and molecules word search