Submitted by shadelight on 05/05/2009 08:58 PM Flag This Paper
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Like a machine, the universe contains many parts which interact with one another. These parts concentrate undergo change the manipulation due to the interactions that they experience with other parts and the surrounding areas. The study of the interaction of these parts and their interaction with their environment is known as Chemistry. The smallest building blocks of the universe, which affect things that are microscopic and/or macroscopic, are known as atoms. It is the atom which is important to chemist because everything that exists in the world around is composed of and affected by atoms.
Atoms are tiny particles which have never been seen by human eyes, because they are approximately 1 angstrom long. This is approximately 10-10 meters long which means that it would take 100,000,000 atoms to fit across your thumb nail. These smaller particles are actually made of three smaller parts (sub-atomic), which have been named according to their properties. The names of the sub-atomic particles are Protons, Neutrons, and Electrons. These particles are spread apart according to their properties which is their magnetic charges. The core of the atom is called the nucleus that’s composed of neutrons and protons. The protons have a positive charge and the neutrons are neutral, so the overall charge of the nucleus is positive. Neutrons don’t have any direct affect on the chemical reactivity of an atom. Occupying the space surrounding the nucleus are the electrons which have a negative charge proportional the positive charge of the protons.
Since now we have a grasp of the basic components of an atom, we venture out to the various versions of the atom. To make atoms unique the amount of neutrons, electrons, protons vary. The variations of electrons and protons are proportional, since the overall charge of the atom must remain neutral. So Hydrogen which has 1 proton also has 1 electron and Helium which has 2 protons has 2 electrons. The Atomic number of an atom on...