Q:

MSU No.
34

What is an atom?
Did you ever wonder what makes up the world around us? What goes into building a
human, an insect, or a grain of sand? Everything is made of tiny nano-sized
particles called atoms. Atoms are 1 billion times smaller than everyday objects,
and are the building blocks of all matter. Comparing an atom to an object
(even people) is like comparing a grain of sand to a beach. A grain of sand alone could
not be called a beach, but when billions of grains of sand are put together, they make a beach.
An atom alone could not be called a person, but when trillions of them are put together in the
right way, they make a person. All matter is made up of many atoms.
Every atom has a nucleus and an electron cloud surrounding it. Like a piece of fruit, the
center (or nucleus) is hard and solid, and the outside is softer and more flexible (the electron
cloud). The nucleus is made of even tinier pieces called protons and neutrons. Protons have
a positive charge (+) and neutrons have a neutral or no charge. To balance out the charges,
the tiny pieces of atoms called electrons, have a negative charge (-). The electrons fly around
the hard nucleus in layers, making up the electron cloud. Atoms make up objects by linking
electron clouds together. Several atoms linked together are called a molecule.
The protons and neutrons make up almost all of the mass (or weight) of an atom. The
electrons weigh very little. In a 150 pound person, 149 lbs and 15 oz are protons and neutrons, Did you know?
and only 1 oz is electrons. Because people are made of only atoms, they make up a person’s If a tiny grain of salt was enlarged to the
entire weight. size of a football field, an atom in it would
Since atoms make up everything we can see, touch, taste, and smell, scientists study them be about the width of a human hair.
closely. Scientists at Montana State University study atoms in fields of physics, chemistry, and
molecular biology.

Try this!

A.

Label the B.
parts of E.

an atom: C.

D.

A: Electron, B: Proton, C: Neutron, D: Electron Cloud, E: Nucleus

M O N T A N A N S F

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