No one really knows what happens inside an atom. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Breaking space news, the latest updates on ...

Atoms are very small. They have a radius of around 1 × 10 10 metres. This symbol shows that chlorine has 35 particles in the nucleus (protons and neutrons), 17 of which are protons. It also tells us ...

James is a published author with multiple pop-history and science books to his name. He specializes in history, space, strange science, and anything out of the ordinary.View full profile James is a ...

Physicists have measured the “skin” of an atom for the first time and, perhaps unsurprisingly, it is extremely thin. The measurement may help us understand the properties of neutron stars. Lead-208, ...

Right now, in our atmosphere, there are countless numbers of nitrogen atoms floating high above the Earth's surface. These atoms are, in a sense, vulnerable. Cosmic radiation, in the form of neutrons, ...

An element's atomic number defines it. An element with 17 protons will always be chlorine. However an element's mass numbers can vary, which means that it can have different numbers of neutrons. So ...

Some atomic nuclei are thin-skinned — they’re surrounded by a slim shell of neutrons. Physicists now know how thick that neutron skin is for one particular type of nucleus. The skin of lead-208 — a ...

Atoms can be more overweight than we thought, a team of scientists in the United States has discovered. They have sent atoms crashing into one another in a particle accelerator to create bloated ...