Chemistry & Physics

Atom
Atom and Atomic Theory, study of atoms, the smallest amounts of matter recognizable as chemical elements, and of the forces holding atoms together.

Electron
Electron, type of elementary particle that, along with protons and neutrons, makes up atoms and molecules. Electrons have a rest mass of 9.109 x 10-28 grams, and a negative electrical charge of 1.602 x 10-19 coulombs. The charge of the electron is the basic unit of electricity. Electrons are classified as fermions because they obey the exclusion principle and have half-integral spin (a property of subatomic particles that indicates the particle's angular momentum). The antimatter version of the electron is the positron.

Proton
Atomic nuclei. The mass of a proton is approximately 1836 times that of an electron, and so the nucleus contains almost the entire mass of an atom. The proton has both spin (angular momentum) and a magnetic moment. The number of protons in an atom's nucleus defines what element it is; the element's atomic number tells how many protons the nucleus has. In nuclear physics, the proton is used as a projectile in large particle accelerators to bombard nuclei, producing elementary particles.

Ion
Ion, atom that has gained or lost electrons. Atoms losing electrons become positively charged and are called cations; atoms gaining electrons become negatively charged and are called anions.

Molecule
Molecule, smallest particle of any substance having the specific chemical properties of that substance. If a molecule is divided, the nature of the parts will differ from the nature of the substance. Molecules of compounds contain atoms of the compounded elements. A molecule with two atoms is diatomic, and one with more than two atoms is polyatomic. Some molecules have hundreds, thousands, or even millions of atoms.

Neutron
Neutron, one of the elementary particles of which matter is formed. The mass of a neutron is 1.0086654 atomic mass units (amu), and it has no electrical charge