Compounds, Atoms, and Nucleus: The Building Blocks of Life

We have such a big world, but have you ever wondered about the small things? Most people know that the world is made up of atoms, but aren’t atoms made up of electrons, and if electrons circle atoms, how can an atom be spherical? Is an atom spherical? What are nuclei, neutrons, elements, and compounds?

Sit on a couch, grab your popcorn, and find out the truth about the little things in our universe.

Atoms and electrons

Most people know atoms as the building blocks of life, and although that’s true, there are also some things that make an atom to begin with. If you have ever seen an atom flowchart,(https://www.chemistrystudent.com/images/ASPhysical/atomicstructure/atomicstructure1.png) you would see a nucleus surrounded by electrons. But what are nuclei and electrons?

Electrons are substances that surround the nuclei, like a cloud. This makes an atom not spherical but like a ball in a cloud. Electrons are always moving to the right and are responsible for electricity.

Atoms like to be stable, and electrons are responsible for that. An atom can be stable by itself, if the number of electrons are the same as the number of neutrons. Or, 2 atoms can bond and share neutrons. Example: if an atom has 2 more electrons than protons it can bond with an atom with 2 less electrons than protons. This is how oxygen, salt and many other things are made. When 2 hydrogen combines with 1 oxygen, it makes water. This is also because both have electrical charges: positive for protons and negative for electrons.

But what about the nucleus, the thing that the electrons rotate around.

Nucleus

The nucleus is an imaginary box in the center of the atom. The nucleus holds the protons and neutrons of the atoms.

The amount of protons in an atom will decide what element it is. When you look at the periodic table, every element has an atomic number (the number of protons in it) and the number of protons defines the element. A proton has a positive electrical charge.

Unlike protons and electrons, neutrons have no electrical charge. Protons, all being positively charged, repel each other. But you know that they are all squeezed into the nucleolus. So how do they stick and not repel? Remember, the nucleolus isn't actually a solid hollow sphere, so it can't hold it together, so what does? The neutrons. Neutrons act like glue to the protons and help them stay centralised. But how many neutrons does an atom have?

Nutrons and protons per element