Protons and neutrons are heavier, and stay in the middle of the atom. (Source: AG Caesar, from Wikimedia Commons.)Įvery atom is made up of three kinds of smaller parts: protons (which are positively charged), neutrons (which have no charge) and electrons (which are negatively charged). The atom does not actually look like this. The diagram shows the parts of a Lithium atom. What makes up an atom? Atoms have protons and neutrons in the center. For example, if you took one water molecule and broke it down, you wouldn’t have water anymore. A water molecule is formed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (H2O).Ī molecule is the smallest amount of something you can get without breaking it down into something different. That’s because two hydrogen(H) atoms and one oxygen(O) atom combine to make a water molecule. For example, you might have heard someone call water “H2O”. Molecules are formed when atoms join together. (Source: OpenStax University Physics, via Wikimedia Commons.) This is called the “Periodic Table of the Elements”. Different kinds of atoms, called “elements” are arranged in a table. For example, helium, neon, and gold are each made up of one single kind of atom. You probably already know about some of them. These kinds of atoms are called elements.
So far scientists know about 118 different kinds of atoms. Because they are so small, atoms can’t be seen without special tools. The largest one would be about 200,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. There are many different kinds of atoms, with different names, sizes, and weights*.Ītoms are very tiny. An atom is the basic unit that everything is made of.
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