Atoms: Particles, Protons, Neutrons And Electrons

Atoms have three subatomic particles, protons, neutrons and electrons. The atom, the smallest unit of matter which means it’s the smallest thing that takes space and has mass is so small it would take a million of atoms to cross this dot. Knowing they’re incredibly tiny, the electrons having a single negative charge; they move around the nucleus where the protons with a single positive charge and the neutron who does not have a charge are packed. Electrons are only ones that are involved with the chemical activity of an atom, thus, the more electrons an atom has the more energy it will possess. Electrons aren’t just moving around the nucleus, they move around by levels called electron shells. The first level can hold two electrons, the second and third can hold up to eight electrons.

Making this atom want to interact with other atoms in order to be stable. Atoms want their shells as full as they can be. For example, a Helium atom has two protons, two neutrons and two electrons; this atom is neutral and happy because it has two electrons which fill perfectly the first level. However, Hydrogen is not happy, it has one neutron, one proton and one electron which makes it a neutral charge also yet it has not completed its first level with just that one electron in the shell that fit two. Hydrogen thus is seeking for that electron its missing. To make this happen, Chemical bonding is the way atoms are able to take or give up electrons. They can either share the electrons or transfer them. Normally, when atoms do this it ends up holding them really close, this attraction is called chemical