Atoms and Atomic structure

The Greek philosopher Democritus said that all matter was composed of many small, invisible
particles, called atoms, which means indestructible or invisible. A couple of years after English
scientist John Dalton made a more precise definition of "atom" which refers to these points:
1. The elements are formed by extremely small particles calls atoms
2. All atoms of the same element are identical.
3. The compounds are formed by atoms of the same element.
4. A chemical reaction is only the separation, combination or rearrangement of atoms; it never
refers to the creation or destruction of atoms.

Based on the atomic theory of Dalton some research showed that atoms have an internal structure,
which is made up of even smaller particles called subatomic particles. There are three subatomic
particles which are electrons, protons and neutrons.

 The Electron: Because of the interest in the study of radiation emission and transmission
of energy through the space, a cathode ray tube was used to display the more
electronegative part of the atom. all negatively charged particles called electrons
 The proton: The New Zealand physicist Ernest Rutherford proposed that the positive
charges of the atoms were concentrated in the central part of the atom called "Core". The
particles that are near the Core with positive charge are called Protons.

 The Neutron: the neutrons are particles electronically neutral. This particle was discovered
due to the structure of atom of hydrogen.

The study of the subatomic particles announced The Beams Alpha, which consist of particles
loaded positively. The Beams Thread, which are formed by electrons and The Beams Gamma
which as The X-rays do not present load.

Also with the study of the subatomic particles we can classify each of the elements with the atomic
Number, which is the number of protons in the core. The atomic mass, which is the total number of
neutrons and protons in the core. And the valence that refers to the number of electrons and
therefore to the electronegativity of each one of the elements.

The atomic nucleus 

Protons and neutrons are bound atom in the atomic nucleus, the central portion. The core volume is
approximately proportional to the total number of nucleons, the mass number which is smaller than
the size of the atom. The atomic nucleus can be altered by very energetic processes compared
to chemical reactions. Unstable nucleus suffer breakups that can change the number of protons and
neutrons emitting radiation

Electron cloud

The electrons in the atom are attracted to the protons through the electromagnetic force. This force
traps in a potential well electrostatic around the core, which necessitates an external source of
energy to release. The closer an electron from the nucleus, the greater the attractive force, and
therefore greater the energy needed to escape.
Electrons, as other particles, occur simultaneously properties of point particle and wave , and tend
to form some type of standing wave around the core, resting on this. The electron cloud is the
region occupied by these waves, visualized as a negative charge density around the core.

Atomic properties
Mass
Most of the atom's mass comes from nucleons , protons and neutrons in the nucleus. They also
contribute a small part of the mass of the electron, and the energy of nucleons, under the mass-
energy equivalence . 

Size
Atoms are not delimited by a clear border, so its size is equated with its electron cloud. However, it
can not establish a measure of this, due to the wave properties of the electrons. In practice, the
defined atomic radius estimating it based on some physical phenomenon, as the quantity and
density of atoms in a given volume, or the distance between two nuclei in a molecule .
The dimensions of the atom are thousands of times smaller than the wavelength of light so that
these can not be observed using optical instruments.
Energy levels
An electron bound in the atom has a potential energy inversely proportional to its distance from the
nucleus and negative sign, which means that this increases with distance. When an electron makes a
transition between two different states, absorbs or emits a photon whose energy is precisely the
difference between the two levels. The energy of a photon is proportional to its frequency.
 Conclusions

 An atom is the smallest unit of the constituent material having the properties of a chemical

element.
 An Atom is made up nucleus, protons, neutrons and electrons.
 The matter is made up of very small particles called atoms, which are indivisible and can not be
destroyed.
 Atoms of the same element are equal to each other, have their own weight and qualities. The
atoms of the different elements have different weights.
 Division atoms remain even when combined in chemical reactions.
 Atoms combine to form compounds to keep simple relationships.
 Atoms of different elements can be combined in different proportions to form more than one
compound.
 The chemical compounds are formed by joining two or more atoms of different elements.