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Helium Atom Structure and Mass

An atom is the smallest constituent unit of ordinary matter that makes up every element. It typically ranges from about 100 picometers in diameter. Atoms consist of a small but massive nucleus surrounded by electrons. The nucleus contains protons and neutrons, with protons defining the element and neutrons the isotope. Electrons orbit the nucleus due to electromagnetic force, balancing the nuclear force between protons. The number of protons determines the chemical element, and atoms can bond to form molecules or crystals.

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30 views2 pages

Helium Atom Structure and Mass

An atom is the smallest constituent unit of ordinary matter that makes up every element. It typically ranges from about 100 picometers in diameter. Atoms consist of a small but massive nucleus surrounded by electrons. The nucleus contains protons and neutrons, with protons defining the element and neutrons the isotope. Electrons orbit the nucleus due to electromagnetic force, balancing the nuclear force between protons. The number of protons determines the chemical element, and atoms can bond to form molecules or crystals.

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WYN
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Atom

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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For other uses, see Atom (disambiguation).

Helium atom

An illustration of the helium atom, depicting the nucleus(pink) and

the electron cloud distribution (black). The nucleus (upper right) in

helium-4 is in reality spherically symmetric and closely resembles the

electron cloud, although for more complicated nuclei this is not

always the case. The black bar is one angstrom (10−10 m or 100 pm).

Classification

Smallest recognized division of a chemical element

Properties

Mass range 1.67×10−27 to 4.52×10−25 kg

Electric charge zero (neutral), or ion charge


Diameterrange 62 pm (He) to 520 pm (Cs) (data page)

Components Electrons and a

compact nucleus of protons and neutrons

An atom is the smallest constituent unit of ordinary matter that constitutes a chemical element.
Every solid, liquid, gas, and plasma is composed of neutral or ionizedatoms. Atoms are extremely
small; typical sizes are around 100 picometers (1×10−10 m, a ten-millionth of a millimeter, or
1/254,000,000 of an inch). They are so small that accurately predicting their behavior using classical
physics – as if they were billiard balls, for example – is not possible. This is due to quantum effects.
Current atomic models now use quantum principles to better explain and predict this behavior.
Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus
is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety
of hydrogen has no neutrons. Protons and neutrons are called nucleons. More than 99.94% of an
atom's mass is in the nucleus. The protons have a positive electric charge whereas the electrons
have a negative electric charge. The neutrons have no electric charge. If the number of protons and
electrons are equal, then the atom is electrically neutral. If an atom has more or fewer electrons than
protons, then it has an overall negative or positive charge, respectively. These atoms are called ions.
The electrons of an atom are attracted to the protons in an atomic nucleus by the electromagnetic
force. The protons and neutrons in the nucleus are attracted to each other by the nuclear force. This
force is usually stronger than the electromagnetic force that repels the positively charged protons
from one another. Under certain circumstances, the repelling electromagnetic force becomes
stronger than the nuclear force. In this case, the nucleus shatters and leaves behind different
elements. This is a kind of nuclear decay. All electrons, nucleons, and nuclei alike are subatomic
particles. The behavior of electrons in atoms is closer to a wave than a particle.
The number of protons in the nucleus, called the atomic number, defines to which chemical element
the atom belongs. For example, each copper atom contains 29 protons. The number of neutrons
defines the isotope of the element. Atoms can attach to one or more other atoms by chemical
bonds to form chemical compoundssuch as molecules or crystals. The ability of atoms to associate
and dissociate is responsible for most of the physical changes observed in nature. Chemistry is the
discipline that studies these changes.

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