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Victoria Catholic School: Submitted By: Jessica V. Marcelo

This document provides facts about atoms including that atoms are the fundamental unit of matter composed of smaller particles such as protons, neutrons and electrons. It explains that protons define the element, with hydrogen having one proton and helium having two. Neutrons are also a particle in atoms beyond hydrogen. Isotopes are variations in the number of neutrons. Larger atoms are less stable due to the electromagnetic force between protons.

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193 views4 pages

Victoria Catholic School: Submitted By: Jessica V. Marcelo

This document provides facts about atoms including that atoms are the fundamental unit of matter composed of smaller particles such as protons, neutrons and electrons. It explains that protons define the element, with hydrogen having one proton and helium having two. Neutrons are also a particle in atoms beyond hydrogen. Isotopes are variations in the number of neutrons. Larger atoms are less stable due to the electromagnetic force between protons.

Uploaded by

Eric Castillo
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Victoria Catholic School

Submitted by: JESSICA V. MARCELO

Facts About the Atom


Atoms are an intermediary step between fundamental particles and the material objects that make up our large scale world.
The word atom means "indivisible" in Greek implying that an atom is the fundamental unit of matter. In the science of chemistry, for most practical purposes, this is held to be true. There are currently 117 discovered or manufactured elements, each defined by an atom. Each element has it's own unique properties because each atom of each type of element is different. An atom is actually a class of object that is composed of smaller particles, so an atom is in fact divisible. The particular properties of an atom are defined by how the smaller particles are arranged in the atom. These arrangements are governed by a set of rules based on the fundamental forces - gravity doesn't play a significant role, but the strong and weak nuclear forces, and electromagnetic force do. The smallest atom is composed of a single proton. This is hydrogen, the lightest element. Usually the proton is accompanied by an electron, but if the proton has a lot of energy it may lose it's electron. Hydrogen in this state is a plasma - the primary ingredient of stars. The number of protons a particular atom defines it as a particular element. So, helium has two protons, lithium has 3 protons, and ununoctium has 118 protons (ununseptium, element 117, hasn't been "discovered" yet). Protons and electrons are two of the three particles that make up atoms. The third is the neutron. Elements beyond hydrogen have neutrons. A hydrogen atom can also have a neutron - this configuration doesn't change it to a different element since the atom's properties aren't significantly different. It does change the weight of the atom, and this type of atom is an isotope. Some elements can have several isotopes, or variations in the number of neutrons. Generally, the number of neutrons in an atom match the number of protons, but bigger atoms tend to have more neutrons than protons. Very large atoms with many protons and neutrons can be unstable. Protons have a positive charge (the electromagnetic force), so protons tend to repel each other. Neutrons have no charge. The nuclear forces in the neutrons and protons are mutually attractive, and they work against the natural tendencies of the protons to repel from one another, binding the atom together. However, the nuclear forces are no match for electromagnetism over longer distances. In large atoms, the nuclear force from one particle may not reach completely through the atom, and the atom may decay to two or more less unstable atoms.

Did you know...


Everything is made up of atoms There are three parts to an atom, electrons, protons, and neutrons. There are 116 known elements and 92 natural elements. Atoms can bond in three different kinds of ways: ionic bonds, covalent bonds, and metalic bonds. An atom almost always has the same number of electrons, protons, and neutrons. An atom can lose electrons but not protons or neutrons.

tiniest bit of any pure substance or chemical element. stop after this sentence.

particles. eus, made from two kinds of particle: protons and neutrons. Protons have a positive electrical charge, and neutrons none. Both protons and neutrons are made from different combinations of quarks (see quarks). its nucleus would be just the size of a pea. -charged particles called electrons (see electrons). attraction between positive protons and negative electrons, and the strong and weak nuclear forces that hold the nucleus together. iron atom has 26 protons, gold has 79. The number of protons is the atomic number. isotopes. (green). Protons have a positive electric charge while neutrons have none. Tiny electrons (blue) whizz around the nucleus.

unbreakable. en smaller particles, which he called electrons (see electrons). the outside. et of gold foil. Most went straight through, but 1 in 8000 particles bounced back! passed straight through) but had a tiny, dense nucleus at its centre. therford managed to split the nucleus of a nitrogen atom with alpha particles. Small atoms could be split. neutrons. Fermi bombarded the big atoms of uranium with neutrons. Fermi thought the new atoms that then formed had simply gained the neutrons. smaller atoms of barium. an Lise Meitner realized that Hahn and Strassman had split the uranium atoms. This discovery opened the way to releasing nuclear energy by fission (see nuclear energy). hich matter is made. sentence.

s. -atomic particles (subatomic is smaller than an atom). protons and neutrons. us are even tinier particles called electrons.

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