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What is an atom? Better explained
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All matter is made up of elements that cannot be broken down by chemical activity.
Atom is the smallest particle of an element that retains the element's properties.
Atoms are the building blocks for everything in the universe including ourselves.
People often think of atoms as the smallest possible form of matter but even smaller particles make up atoms
Each atom has a dense center called the nucleus
the nucleus contains neutrons which have a neutral electric charge and protons which are positively charged
the number of protons in an atom determines the element’s physical properties.
No two elements have the same number of protons.
Revolving around the nucleus like the planets around the Sun, are the negatively charged particles called electrons
Electrons and protons attract each other, usually, they are equal in number.
Scientist ascertain a number to each element based on the no of protons in it
and a unit called AMU or the Atomic Mass Unit which is the sum of the protons and Neutrons present in the nucleus.
For instance, a helium atom has two protons so its atomic number is 2.
it also has 2 neutrons. adding the no of protons and neutrons we get 4 which is Helium's atomic mass unit.
Electrons have almost no mass and are not included in the AMU calculations.
In an atom, the number of protons remains constant.
Individual Atoms can lose or gain electrons to form Ions.
atoms of the same element can also have extra neutrons, these are called isotopes
despite having different neutron counts isotopes retain their elements’ chemical properties because the number of protons remains constant
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