What are atoms?

What are atoms?

1. The atom is the smallest possible particle of an element.

   • positive protons
     • all atoms of a given element have the same unique number of protons
   • neutral neutrons
     • neutrons cluster with protons in atomic nuclei, contributing to the mass number of the nucleous
   • negative electrons
     • They orbit the nucleus within specific regions called electron shells
       • Shells at increasing distances from the nucleus contain electrons with increasing amounts of energy
         • When the outer shell of the atom is full then the atom is most stable

2. Istopes

   • they are atoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons