Perhaps something from your series on particles as ripples in fields could be brought in here to explain orbitals in a more consistent way. And second, much more profound and subtle, the figure does not convey the murky nature of quantum mechanics. If one says “we don’t know” in a general way, important details get lost : that we can predict some properties of the electron to one part in 10 Chemistry is all about this tendency to look for the most stable state that could be achieved under current conditions, and under certain conditions, the formation of ions is the most stable state for a given kind of atom. Your pedagogical quibble is well taken: these are indeed questions that always get asked and that I have to answer in these articles.

Instead of pursuing chemistry itself, a subject for a whole college course, we’ll continue on down to the subatomic particles, addressing along the way the other questions that are still unanswered. A radioactive isotope is an isotope whose nucleus readily decays, giving off subatomic particles and electromagnetic energy. Now the problem is that what is really going on does not have any intuitive picture to go with it, and people interpret it differently.The tent fabric, on its own, tends to be shaped like a little ball, but when you stretch it on the poles, it begins to occupy space. But, atoms themselves contain many subatomic particles, the three most important of which are protons, neutrons, and electrons. Why can’t I just put my hand right through my computer screen, if the screen is made from atoms which are mostly empty? I certainly don’t have an ideal way to draw it that wouldn’t be misleading, and experts still argue about what is the best way to think about it.

You have to get close to get the “true” size but there is a restriction on how close you can get so exact size is impossible to measure. One method involves a “scanning tunneling microscope”, which can show the atoms inside a crystal, or even move them around one at a time. Answer: the properties of its outermost electrons, which are determined by the total number of electrons for each element, i. Its atomic number is 92 (it has 92 protons) but it contains 146 neutrons; it has the most mass of all the naturally occurring elements.I’ve never had a physics course so can only follow your simpler descriptions, but I have a strong interest in these things and have read several books over the years.