• Question: What are atoms made of?

    Asked by to Edward, Ian, Mathew, Naomi, sakshisharda on 19 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Naomi Osborne

      Naomi Osborne answered on 19 Jun 2014:

      Years ago scientists believed atoms were the smallest matter….then came the discovery that an atom has a nucleus in the middle containing neutrons and protons which is orbited by shells of electrons.

      We now know protons and neutrons can be split even smaller into particles of quarks and gluons. The gluons hold the quarks together. Maybe there’s something smaller than a quark….we just haven’t discovered it yet 🙂

Comments