Atoms

We started to discuss atoms yesterday - the smallest part of matter. We watched some great videos to help us get our heads around the size of atoms and their structure. We discovered that all matter is made up of atoms. Everything - trees, stones, air, eyeballs! Atoms are also constantly moving, so even a rock is constantly moving. We started to raise the question of how scientists know all about atoms when they are so small. A big question! We discussed how we can't see the wind but we can learn about wind by looking at the effects of the wind and how it affects objects in different situations. It is a bit like that with studying atoms.

The structure of an atom.

Atoms are ridiculously small. The photo on the right is a photo of the shadow of an atom. Scientists directed a laser beam at a suspended atom and this was it's shadow. The first visualization of an atom. We watched the below videos to help us get our head around how small they are and how they are structured. 

We also noted that electricity is when the electrons in atoms flow (swap) between electrons in other atoms.