Smaller than an atom

Atoms and other particles

• Even in ancient times, philosophers assumed that matter was composed of the smallest, elementary particles. In the 19th Century has the chemistry With the rediscovery of the atom, the basis for quantum physics in the 20th century. Century.
• The model of the atom describes the elements from a different composition of other particles that are even smaller than the atom. An atom is therefore composed of electrons, protons and neutrons, the latter being the carriers of the mass of the atom. 99.9% of the mass of an atom is in the nucleus. Carriers of electrical charge are the positively charged protons and the negatively charged electrons, which are to a certain extent in a shell or shell. Move the sphere around the atomic nucleus.
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• In the last century it was found that the protons in turn consist of other, smaller particles called "quarks", which have been divided into six different types. Another discovery was made of particles that differ from electrons only in terms of their mass. This group, including electrons, is called leptons.

Smaller than leptons

• It is believed that atoms only make up about 4.6% of the energy density of the visible universe. Another 23% probably consists of dark matter, the rest probably of dark matter energy.
• But the search for further, even smaller particles is not over. In 2012, another elementary particle was discovered, which is composed of two quarks. Swiss scientists at the Cern nuclear research center discovered it when two proton beams collided. Furthermore, one is also certain that the Higgs boson, which has been sought for decades, has been found there. This particle is supposed to generate a field that provides the mass of other particles and is considered the last building block in the standard model of the universe.


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