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An introduction to atoms and how they form the world around us.
Imagine you have a magic magnifying glass that could zoom in millions of times. If you looked at your hand, your chair, or even the air, you would see that everything is made of the same tiny 'LEGO bricks' of the universe. What are these mysterious pieces?
In science, we call 'stuff' matter. Matter is anything that has mass (which means it has weight) and takes up space. Think about a basketball. It has weight when you hold it, and it takes up space in your hands. Even things you can't see, like the air inside the ball, are matter! Air takes up space and actually has a tiny bit of weight. If it isn't a 'thing' or a 'substance,' it probably isn't matter. For example, light and heat are forms of energy, not matter, because they don't take up space like a physical object does.
Quick Check
Is a shadow considered matter? Why or why not?
Answer
No, a shadow is not matter because it does not have mass and does not take up physical space; it is just the absence of light.
If you took a piece of gold and kept cutting it into smaller and smaller pieces, eventually you would get to a piece so small you couldn't cut it anymore. This tiny, invisible particle is called an atom. Atoms are the basic building blocks of everything you see. They are so small that about (ten million) atoms could fit across the period at the end of this sentence! Every single thing in the universe—from the stars in the sky to the cells in your brain—is made of these incredibly small particles.
To understand how small an atom is, follow these steps: 1. Imagine a single grapefruit. 2. Imagine filling that grapefruit with blueberries. 3. If the grapefruit were the size of the entire Earth, then one atom would be the size of one of those blueberries! 4. This shows that atoms are much too small to see with a regular microscope.
Quick Check
What is the name of the tiny particles that make up all matter?
Answer
Atoms
There aren't just one kind of atom; there are over 100 different types! We call these different types elements. Think of elements like different colors of LEGO bricks. If you use only 'Red' atoms, you might have the element Oxygen. If you use only 'Yellow' atoms, you might have Gold. When you group many atoms of the same type together, you get a substance you can see and touch. For example, a pure silver ring is made of trillions of silver atoms. The Periodic Table is like a giant menu that lists every type of atom found in the universe.
Sometimes atoms like to hang out in groups. 1. Take two atoms of Hydrogen (). 2. Add one atom of Oxygen (). 3. When they bond together, they form a molecule of water, written as . 4. Even though they are different elements, they are all still made of atoms!
Which of these is NOT an example of matter?
If you have a piece of pure Gold, what kind of atoms will you find inside?
Atoms are large enough to see with a magnifying glass.
Review Tomorrow
Tomorrow morning, look at three objects in your room and try to remember the two things that make them 'matter' (Mass and Space).
Practice Activity
Find a 'Periodic Table' online and look up the symbol for the element 'Iron.' Can you find any objects in your house made of iron atoms?