An atom has even smaller sub-partcilces calles electroons,protons and neutrons.Protons are positively charged particles and neutrons have no charge.Both protons and neutrons make up the nucleus of an atom.Electrons are negatively chatged particles and revolve around the nucleus.They move in acircular path called an orbit.
Structure of an atom is a key scientific theory. The most surprising feature is that an atom is mostly space.
The mass is concentrated in the middle, in the nucleus, in which is positively charged.
Orbiting round the nucleus but a long way from it are very light, negatively charged particles called electrons.
So it is the attraction between positive charge and negative charge that holds the electrons in place round the atom. the nucleus is composed of two sorts of subatomic particles, protons which each have a positive charge and neutrons which have the same mass as protons but are neutral.
Atoms consists of very small very dense nucleus with electrons orbiting around it.
The nucleus contains both protons and neutrons.
The number of protons determines the atoms chemical nature; this number is called the atomic number and is given by the symbol Z.
Neutrons and protons carry an attractive force called the strong force to overcome the repulsion between the positively charged protons.
The number of neutrons in an atom can be variable.
The nucleus diameter is only about 1/100000 of the atoms diameter, so much of the volume of the atom consists of empty space.
The structure of a typical atom would have the protons and neutrons in the nucleus or center of the atom and the electrons spinning in a cloud arrangement outside of the nucleus of the atom.
Basic Structure of an AtomBack to Top
Atoms are the bases of all substances that are known to exist in the universe. Everything on our earth is made from 96 stable and 12 unstable elements. Each element has a different atomic structure. The basic structure of an atom involves a nucleus and the orbiting electrons.
The nucleus consists of protons and neutrons. The difference in atomic structures results in different properties of the elements. The simplest atomic structure of hydrogen atom is shown below.