What Are Atoms?

What Are Atoms?

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

   • What is it?

2. Compossed of...

   • Protons (positive), neutrons (neutral) and electrons (negative)

3. Neutrons

   • They cluster with protons in the atomic nuclei, contributing to the mass number of the nucleous

4. Electrons

   • They orbit the nucleus within specific regions called electron shells. Shells with increasing distance from the nucleous contain electrons with increasing amounts of energy. Each shell can only contain a certain number of electrons

5. Isotopes

   • Isotopes are atoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons. Some isotopes are radioactive; their nuclei spontaneously breaks down, forming new elements.

6. Stability

   • An atom is the most stable when its outermost shell is full

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