Space between atoms?

[RandomPscho]

Re: Space between atoms?

They don 't literally mean 0, just an EXTREMELY small number. An you teaching keeps saying point-like particle but there a MANY problems with this theory, which string theory ties to fix/explain.

[korny]

Re: Space between atoms?

I never really understood the whole logistics of atoms and all that. I mean, atoms have to be made of something right? And whatever makes up the atoms has to be made of something as well and so on and so on...

[Reach]

Re: Space between atoms?

Hey. I have a question that me and a friend just thought of.

Ok. So atoms make up everything in the universe, right? Well. I know atoms consist of a nucleus and electron(s). The nucleus is less than 1% of the whole atoms volume. And an electron is 1/1800 the size of a nucleus... so you can say they really have no percentage of volume in the atom. So approx. 99% of an atom is nothingness.

Well, since everything is made up of atoms, and atoms are only 1% of something, then everything is only 1% of something? And the other 99% of everything is nothing?

So right now, I am 99% nothing, right?

PS: I asked this question to two of my chemistry teachers. One said we still have things to learn. The other said "some things are best left unthought of".

Indeed the electron moves (usually) quite far from the nucleus, but all of that space isn't actually the atom, but is just space in which the electron can move through.


However, yes, if you were to break things down to the absolute fundemental levels of reality, your existance is not continuous. You are '99% nothing', if that's how you want to put it. The continuous world you perceive is an illusion.

At the smallest scales of reality, things are moving rather randomly at speeds it is futile for you to bother trying to understand. Everything is spinning and vibrating and fluctuating so quickly that essentially this '99% nothing' ends up disappearing.


Oh and yea, you can break the nucleus down, and even the electron for that matter. There are much smaller things than neutrons and protons.

[ledwix]

Re: Space between atoms?

I think i've heard that an atomic nucleus accounts for only about one 10,000th of an atom's total volume. if 99.99% of atoms are "nothing," (a.k.a. empty space) and there is a TON of space between atoms which move freely on Earth, think of how little matter there is on our planet. The Earth could be, what, a million times as dense as it is now, if atoms were closer together and were filled to the brim with protons and neutrons. Now, put that on an astronomical scale. The Earth is just a tiny dot of extremely concentrated matter compared to the empty void of space. The average density of the universe is only about 5×10^(-30) grams per cubic centimeter of space. compare this to the average density of hydrogen gas, the lighest known substance on the planet, 9 x 10^(-4) grams per cubic centimeter. Therefore, the seemingly empty air on our planet is almost one septillion times as dense as the universe in total. If you thought we were 99% nothing, think about the shortage of matter there seems to be in the entire universe, and how we are more than 10^24 times as dense as it.

[Raveren]

Re: Space between atoms?

Just to give an idea of the size of the nucleus is in comparison to the atom, imagine a marble in the center of a professional footbal stadium, that would be the approximate relativity of a nucleus to the atom. Indeed, it seems hard to beleive that nearly nothing makes everything. but don't forget that it TRILLIONS of those little seemingly "nothings" that make up just the very tip of a needle.

[jamesilluminare]

Re: Space between atoms?

To begin with, everything in the universe is not made of atoms. We now know that most of the universe is made up of Dark Matter (approx 23%) and Dark Energy (approx 73%). And Stars (etc) make up approx 4% and WE make up no more then about 0.03%.
(http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...videoid=725559)

About the atom. In the absolute void, where there is seemingly nothing, there is still something. This something is most likely called Zero Point Energy.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZPE) Which is sort of like residue. It has been said that there is enough ZPE within a standard coffee cup to vaporise all of the oceans on Earth. In quantum field theory, this is called Vacuum Energy. ZPE has been experimented on before, and is now a recognised phenomenon. This is often known as the Casimir effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casimir_effect). So, this "empty space" you speak of, "within" the atom, could in fact be an abundance of ZPE. But, this is only theory. So is the idea that there is nothingness within the atom. This is only an "idea" because we, as of yet, cannot probe to such a small scale. But that could soon change. (http://www.newscientist.com/channel/...ng-theory.html)

But, when you look at it from another POV, there could be no "space" at all. This could be seen in Quantum Entanglement. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_entanglement)

[bobbyluigi]

Re: Space between atoms?

basically we are nothing in a general sense. but everything we percieve from our senses tells us things have definition, volume and other stuff. Like my keyboard is solid, because the physical properties the atom has makes us percieve it as solid, which technically makes it solid, i think...