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Earth Lab: Atomic Structure |
| edHelper's suggested reading level: | grades 9 to 10 | |
| Flesch-Kincaid grade level: | 9.53 |
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Earth Lab: Atomic Structure
By Trista L. Pollard |
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1 When scientists design models of atoms, they usually show a simplified version of the atom's nucleus and its subatomic particles. The nucleus is made up of protons and neutrons (picture red and blue gumballs stuck together) with electrons moving at high speeds around the outside of the nucleus (imagine gumballs on a circular wire). Over the years, scientists have found out that the highly fast-moving electrons form a cloud around the nucleus. In fact, within this electron cloud, the electrons are spaced at different distances from the nucleus. These areas of electrons are called energy levels or shells. Each shell can only have a certain number of electrons. Since electrons are negatively charged and opposite charges attract, the electrons are attracted to the nucleus which has a positive charge. It is this attraction that keeps the electrons inside the atom. Speaking of the nucleus, you should know that most of the atom's mass is the nucleus. However, the nucleus's size is extremely small compared to the size of the atom. Most of the atom's volume is empty space, due to the extremely small size of the electrons, protons, and neutrons.
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