What are atoms?

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An illustration of an atom. The nucleus, containing neutrons and protons, is at the center. Circling around it are electrons. Image from: Pixabay.

By Encyclopaedia Britannica, adapted by Newsela staff

Published:03/31/2017 Word Count:522

The tiny particles called atoms are the basic building blocks of all matter. Atoms can be combined with other atoms to form molecules, but they cannot be divided into smaller parts by ordinary means.

The word atom derives from the Greek word atomos, which means "indivisible." The ancient Greeks were the first to think of the atom as the basic unit of all matter, but it was not until the early 1800s that scientists began to understand how atoms work.

Structure

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All atoms have the same basic parts. These are a nucleus and at least one particle called an electron. The nucleus contains protons and neutrons. Diagrams of two kinds of atoms show that each kind of atom has a different number of electrons. Graphic from: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Most of an atom consists of empty space. Its mass is concentrated in its center, which is called the nucleus. The nucleus consists of protons and neutrons. (The ordinary hydrogen atom is an exception; it contains one proton but no neutrons.) Protons carry a positive electrical charge, while neutrons carry no electrical charge. Circling the nucleus is a cloud of negatively charged electrons.

Scientists believe that subatomic particles — protons, neutrons and electrons — are themselves made up of smaller substances. The substances are called quarks and leptons.

Properties

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The periodic table lists the chemical elements and their atomic numbers. Photo from: Wikimedia Commons.

The single most important thing to know about an atom is how many protons it has in its nucleus. This is known as its atomic number. The atomic number determines what kind of atom it is. Every atom is associated with a specific chemical element. An atom is the smallest unit of an element, and each chemical element has a unique atomic number. For instance, hydrogen has an atomic number of 1 because every hydrogen atom has one proton in its nucleus. No other element has an atomic number of 1.

Two other related properties of atoms are the mass number and the atomic weight. The mass number is equal to the total number of protons and neutrons in an atom. The atomic weight is equal to the mass number divided by a certain number that scientists have come up with. The mass number and atomic weight are very similar. For example, for carbon, the mass number is 12, and the atomic weight is 12.011.

Atoms that have the same atomic number but different mass numbers are called isotopes. Carbon-12, the ordinary form of carbon, has six protons and six neutrons per atom. Carbon-14 is an isotope with eight neutrons per atom. It still has six protons. If it did not have six protons, it would not be carbon.

An ordinary atom has an equal number of protons and electrons. So the positive and negative charges are balanced. Some atoms, however, lose or gain electrons in chemical reactions or in collisions with other particles. Ordinary atoms that either gain or lose electrons are called ions. If a neutral atom loses an electron, it becomes a positive ion. If it gains an electron, it becomes a negative ion.

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