An atom is a particle that consists of a nucleus of protons and neutrons surrounded by a cloud of electrons. The atom is the basic particle of the chemical elements, and the chemical elements are distinguished from each other by the number of protons that are in their atoms. For example, any atom that contains 11 protons is sodium, and any atom that contains 29 protons is copper. The number of neutrons defines the isotope of the element.
Atoms are extremely small, typically around 100 picometers across. A human hair is about a million carbon atoms wide. This is smaller than the shortest wavelength of visible light, which means humans cannot see atoms with conventional microscopes. Atoms are so small that accurately predicting their behavior using classical physics is not possible due to quantum effects.
More than 99.94% of an atom's mass is in the nucleus. Each proton has a positive electric charge, while each electron has a negative charge, and the neutrons, if any are present, have no electric charge. If the numbers of protons and electrons are equal, as they normally are, then the atom is electrically neutral. If an atom has more electrons than protons, then it has an overall negative charge, and is called a negative ion. Conversely, if it has more protons than electrons, it has a positive charge, and is called a positive ion.
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 splits and leaves behind different elements. This is a form of nuclear decay.
Atoms can attach to one or more other atoms by chemical bonds to form chemical compounds such as molecules or crystals.
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
This course provides a basic foundation in organic
chemistry and polymer chemistry, including chemical nomenclature of organic compounds and polymers, an understanding of chemical structures, chemical
Le cours comporte deux parties. Les bases de la thermodynamique des équilibres et de la cinétique des réactions sont introduites dans l'une d'elles. Les premières notions de chimie quantique sur les é
The atomic number or nuclear charge number (symbol Z) of a chemical element is the charge number of an atomic nucleus. For ordinary nuclei composed of protons and neutrons, this is equal to the proton number (np) or the number of protons found in the nucleus of every atom of that element. The atomic number can be used to uniquely identify ordinary chemical elements. In an ordinary uncharged atom, the atomic number is also equal to the number of electrons.
The electron (_Electron or _beta-) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary electric charge. Electrons belong to the first generation of the lepton particle family, and are generally thought to be elementary particles because they have no known components or substructure. The electron's mass is approximately 1/1836 that of the proton. Quantum mechanical properties of the electron include an intrinsic angular momentum (spin) of a half-integer value, expressed in units of the reduced Planck constant, ħ.
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, and highly combustible. Hydrogen is the most abundant chemical substance in the universe, constituting roughly 75% of all normal matter. Stars such as the Sun are mainly composed of hydrogen in the plasma state. Most of the hydrogen on Earth exists in molecular forms such as water and organic compounds.
The present invention relates to a method for preparing an at least partially acetal-protected sugar involving the step of reacting a sugar or a sugar derivative selected from the group consisting of an aldopentose, an aldohexose, an aldopentoside and an a ...
2024
Precise control of multiple spin states on the atomic scale presents a promising avenue for designing and realizing magnetic switches. Despite substantial progress in recent decades, the challenge of achieving control over multiconfigurational reversible s ...
Amer Chemical Soc2024
,
This article outlines the advancements made in broadening the application scope of the OpenMC neutron transport code to include thermohydraulic coupling and nuclear data uncertainty propagation. These developments primarily involve the incorporation of the ...