| Introduction: | | Chemistry is the scientific study of all substances, the way they are formed, what makes them stable, their reactions or interactions with each other and why they exhibit their unique properties. To get the picture of what is happening inside the structure of the substances, we have to go down to the atomic levels. | | Substances are made of elements such as oxygen, nitrogen, silicon, carbon, to name a few. Atom is the basic building block of all substances in nature. Atom, as you may know, is the tiniest part of an element that displays the property of the element. | | Each atom consists of a central core, a positively charged nucleus (made up of electrically positive protons and uncharged neutrons), with negatively charged electrons revolving round the core. An atom as such is electrically neutral. Atoms of different elements have different but unique characteristics. Although all atoms are made up of protons, neutrons and electrons, it is the way these subatomic particles are arranged that gives each of the atoms (or element) its unique characteristics. |  | | Previous | Next |
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