Learn About

Atoms & Matter

What is Matter?

Everything in the world around us is made up of matter. Buildings, people, animals, plants and even ice cream are all made from matter.

So, what is matter?

The definition of matter is anything that takes up space and has mass. Matter is made up of lots of small particles called atoms.

What Are Atoms?

Atoms are very small pieces of matter that have 3 parts to them:

1. A proton, which has positive charge

2. An electron, which has a negative charge

3. And a neutron, which has no charge

If you want to see an atom, you need a microscope. Atoms are too tiny and cannot be seen with the human eye.

How Were Atoms Discovered?

The first scientist to develop a theory about atoms was a man named John Dalton. Mr. Dalton lived in the 1800s, and believed that everything was made up of atoms.

He discovered that when chemical reactions occur, atoms rearrange themselves. The atoms of different substances have different masses.

What Do Atoms Look Like?

Atoms are small in size and spherical in shape. They look kind of like a ball. In the middle of the ball is the nucleus.

What Is A Nucleus?

A nucleus is the center part of an atom. The nucleus is made up of both protons and neutrons.

Electrons are the parts of atoms that have a negative charge and travel around the nucleus.

The negative electron is pulled towards the center of the atom, by the positive proton located in the nucleus. At the same time, the electrons are repelling each other.

This creates a balance, so that the atoms don’t fly apart or collapse.

What Are Atomic Elements?

Elements are made up of atoms.

Every element is defined by the number of protons that are in the nucleus. For example, helium will always have 2 protons , whereas gold will always have 47 protons. If it loses one, or gains one, it is no longer gold.

Although elements are defined by the number of protons in the nucleus, the number of neutrons and electrons can vary.

What Is The Periodic Table of Elements?

The Periodic Table of Elements is a chart that shows every single known element that exists in the universe. Everything that you see around you is made up of a combination of certain elements on this table.

How Does Matter Change?

As you learned, all matter is made up of atoms. For matter to change, the atoms must either break apart or get connected with one another. How atoms do this is through chemical reactions.

For example, the elements sodium and chlorine are two dangerous elements on their own. But, when they are combined through a chemical reaction, they become table salt!

How Does Matter Change?

Think about when you go camping and start a campfire.

When you start a fire, you cause a chemical reaction. The wood and the oxygen fuel the fire.

The heat and energy from a spark will cause the wood and oxygen to react violently. There is so much energy in the interaction, that light and heat are produced!

Chemical Reactions In My Body?

When you digest food, many chemical reactions occur inside your body. The breakdown of the food in your stomach, releases energy that your body needs to survive.

If you could look inside your stomach, you would see stomach acid breaking down all of the food that you just ate for lunch!

In Conclusion

Atoms are the building blocks for everything in this world!

Did you know that your body is made up of over 40,000 atoms? Atoms are in the air, at the bottom of the ocean, in outer space and right here in this room!

Wow! Atoms are amazing creations that hold us all together.

The End