The glorious structure of the atom - Part 1
From within the depths of matter a tiny speck with an extraordinary structure and glorious equilibrium emerges: the atom.
This tiny speck is the building block of everything in the universe, from giant stars to the proteins inside the cell. Everything in the universe, without exception, is made up of atoms.
The atom has three basic parts; the neutron, the proton and electrons.
Protons and neutrons are in the exact center of the atom, are bonded to one another, and constitute what is known as the nucleus. And the nucleus gives the atom its weight.
Electrons revolve around the nucleus. Electrons are essentially a cloud of dust with literally no weight at all.
Protons are positively charged particles and electrons are negatively charged. Neutrons have no charge. The number of protons in an atom is always equal to that of its electrons.
There is nothing between the nucleus and the electrons. That giant void represents 99.999% of the atom.
That void can be described using this comparison: if we think of an atom as a football stadium, then the nucleus that comprises its entire mass is no larger than a pea.
Electrons orbit the nucleus at incredible speeds ranging from 1000 to 100,000 kilometers persecond. To put it another way, an electron revolves around the nucleus around one million times a second on average.
As a result of that extraordinary speed, the atom looks very hard and solid, much in the way that the blades of a fan seem to resemble a solid object as they revolve at high speed.
All of the more than 1079 atoms that constitute the universe have been maintaining their same course uninterruptedly, and with no mistakes for the last 15 billion years. This amazing fact of creation belongs to our Almighty Lord, the Lord and Creator of all worlds.
