Atoms: What are they made of?

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• Atoms are the basic building blocks of all matter.

• EVERYTHING on Earth is made of atoms…even the air and your body.

• ​Protons (+)

• Neutrons (N)

• Electrons (e-)

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​These are called subatomic particles.

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•  Located in the nucleus

•  Have a positive charge

•  Have a mass of one

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• ​Located in the nucleus

• Have no charge

• Have a mass of one, similar to the proton

• ​orbit the nucleus of the atom in the electron cloud

• ​are very small (have basically NO mass)

• ​in a neutral atom, there are the same number of protons and electrons

• ​electrons have a negative charge

​It is the electromagnetic force of attraction between the positive protons in the nucleus and the negative electrons orbiting around the nucleus that holds the atom together.