• Question: How many atoms are inside an element? What are the names of these atoms?

    Asked by nholmes to Andrew, Beth, Bruce, Lindy, Lizzie on 14 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Lizzie Eaves

      Lizzie Eaves answered on 14 Jun 2012:

      There aren’t atoms inside an element – one unit of each element is called an atom!

      These atoms are made up of protons, electrons and neutrons – each of which contributes something different. Protons have a positive electrical charge, and the number of protons inside an atom is what defines which element the atom is. Neutrons have no charge on them, and help to stabilise the atom. Electrons are teeny tiny particles (about 1/1600 the size of a proton!) that have a negative charge. These ‘neutralise’ the charge of the protons, and further stabilise the element!

      The protons and neutrons exist as a core of the particle, and the electrons orbit around this core, a bit like a cloud.

    • Photo: Beth Mortimer

      Beth Mortimer answered on 14 Jun 2012:

      To give you an idea, in a 30g pure gold ring (chunky ring) there are about:
      90 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 atoms
      As gold is one element, all these atoms are the same but they group together to form the ring.
      30g of a different or a mixture of elements would have different number of atoms, as atoms from different elements weigh different amounts. The weight of the atom is worked out by counting the number of protons and neutrons in the core (electrons are assumed to not weigh anything!), and is given for each element in the periodic table.

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