Atoms: The building blocks of matter

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                                   ATOMS:    

      THE BUIDLING BLOCKS OF MATTER

                           

Atoms, as we all know, are the smallest unit of matter and cannot be seen with our eyes. Matter is everything- you, me, the device you are using, the oxygen that you are breathing, etc. This matter is made up of extremely small particles called molecules. Molecules are basically a group of atoms connected together. This type of connection is called bonding, about which we will discuss later in another post

Ok, let's get back to atoms. As we said earlier, they are soo small that they cannot be seen with our eyes. Atoms form a structure of a nucleus in the centre and electrons which orbit around the nucleus. There are many types of structures of atoms, including the solid state sphere model in which the atom is just a ball made of nothing. However, the Niels Bohr model of the atom is widely accepted.

In this model, the atom has a nucleus made up of baryons. These baryons are the positively charged protons and neutral neutrons. Wait, what are baryons? Baryon is a classification of hadrons which is a type of particle(we'll get to know all these later).

Ok, let's come back. The nucleus is surrounded by electron shells. The electron shells are orbited by leptons called electrons. Electrons are negatively charged particles. Since protons are positively charged and electrons are negatively charged, they are attracted to each other due to a force called electromagnetic force. Before we go further, let's understand the 4 fundamental forces of the universe briefly.

The first and famous force we know of is gravity. To be frank, gravity is the weakest force in the universe. All the fundamental forces have their own carriers or messengers called bosons.  Scientists aren't sure about the boson that carries gravity, so they proposed a theory in which gravity is carried by a boson named graviton.

The next comes electromagnetic force. This force is caused by particles or objects that have opposite electric charges. Magnetism is also a part of electromagnetism. Electromagnetic force causes the every proton to repel each other. But what keeps them together?

Here comes another force named strong nuclear force or simply strong force.     As its name sounds, it is the strongest force in the universe. Then, what's its role? And what boson carries it? The strong nuclear force is what keeps quarks( protons and neutrons are further divided into fermions called quarks) together to form protons and neutrons. They also keep the nucleus together, preventing the electromagnetic force from separating them. This force is carried out by gluons.

The last force is known as weak nuclear force or simply weak force. This force causes radioactive decay and is carried out by w and z bosons.
Ok, now let's get back to atoms. The protons and neutrons in the nucleus are subatomic particles. This means that they are further divided into quarks and gluons. Quarks are also of many types(we got to know the most dangerous one among them-strange matter). 

The behaviour of atoms is the key to understanding quantum physics and quantum mechanics. Scientists are still researching on atoms and may come up with information that may fascinate us!
 

Comments

  1. MartinMay 5, 2024 at 2:53 AM

    Why proton and electron not get attracted inside the atom?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Soorya Narayanan AramanaMay 5, 2024 at 4:42 AM

      The balance between the repulsion of electrons(since they have the same charge) and the attraction of the electrons to the protons) make the electron to be stable in its shell.

      Delete

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