• Question: what is an atom?

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      Asked by 333newg33 to Aoife, Brian, Conor, Louise, Matthew on 14 Nov 2016.
      • Photo: Matthew Kitching

        Matthew Kitching answered on 14 Nov 2016:

        Hi 333newg33

        An Atom is the smallest piece of matter that can exist of a given element!

        Anything smaller than that and it stops acting like any particular element in the periodic table.

        Atoms are made up of 3 types of particles – protons (which are positive and live in a nucleus – at the middle of the atom) neutron (which have no charge and live in a nucleus – at the middle of the atom) and electrons (which are negative – about 2000 times smaller than protons, and whizz around the nucleus).

        Hope this answers your question – let me know if you want to know more?

      • Photo: Louise Mc Grath

        Louise Mc Grath answered on 14 Nov 2016:

        Hi 333newg33!

        The atom is the basic building block for all matter in the universe. Atoms are extremely small and are made up of a few even smaller particles. The basic particles that make up an atom are electrons, protons, and neutrons.

        Did you know that 1 human hair is roughly 500,000 carbon atoms stacked over each other? Also if atoms were as large as marbles, then our fist would be the size of the earth because we contain so many atoms! Amazing right?

        Well this video is very informative and explains it really well.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lNF3_30lUE Even I learned something new watching it!

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