The “lead” of a pencil is actually made of a substance called graphite which is made of carbon atoms. The picture shows a close-up of one carbon atom. A hydrogen atom has one proton as the nucleus and ...

Where would carbon-based life be without carbon? There are 118 known chemical elements, but carbon is the fourth most abundant and perhaps the most important to human life. Everywhere you look ...

We know that matter is made up of particles called atoms and that an element is a substance that is made up of only one kind of atom. But what are atoms made up of? A very important part of ...

A big, beautiful diamond. Sure, it catches light like no other gem, and it's the hardest material on Earth, and it's worth an awful lot of money. But what is it really but a collection of ordinary ...

Magnetic fields, electrical fields, and even light fall under the electromagnetic force. It binds electrons to the nucleus (made of protons and neutrons) in the atom.

When building an atom, pay close attention to the particles' electrical charges. Protons have a charge of +1. Electrons have a charge of -1. Neutrons are neutral, as its name implies. A stable ...

When two hydrogen atoms get close enough, the electron from each atom feels an attraction from the proton in the other atom's nucleus. This attraction pulls the atoms together. The electrons end up ...

The nucleus of each atom contains protons and neutrons. While the number of protons defines the element (e.g., hydrogen, carbon, etc.) and the sum of the protons and neutrons gives the atomic mass, ...