FORCES WITHIN THE ATOM

ATOM - the basic unit of matter that consists of a dense central nucleus surrounded by a cloud
of negatively charged electrons

Structure of Atom

The illustration shows the structure of atom and its particles such as neutron (no charge or
neutral), electron ( negatively charge) and proton (positively charge).

In a particular atom, there are forces that act on it to keep it intact with each other. We have
four forces which are the following:

1. ELECTROMAGNETIC FORCES -
The fundamental force that is associated with electric and magnetic fields and is
responsible for atomic structure, chemical reactions, the attractive and repulsive forces
associated with electrical charge and magnetism, and all other electromagnetic phenomena. It is
carried by the photon.

EXPLANATION:

Let us remember the rules of charge particles which states that:

“Like charges repel, unlike charges attract” which means that if we join the positive charge
particles to another positive that thing will repel each other and when we join the negative charge
particle to another negative that thing will still repel. However, when we join positive particle to a
negative particle there will be an attraction.

Positive + positive = repel

Negative + negative = repel
Negative = positive = attract

The force of repel and attraction are what we call the electromagnetic force.

In the structure of the atom, the negative charge particle which is the electron will be attracted
by the positive charge particle which is the proton. This force makes the electron on its orbit.

2. STRONG FORCE - the short-range attractive force between baryons that holds together the
nucleus of the atom.

The protons in the nucleus shows this kind of force. The protons are positively charged particles
so there is a possibility that they repel each other. But this is not the case. The strong force opposes the
electromagnetic force of repulsion between protons. It Glues protons together to form the nucleus.

Example:
The atomic structure of oxygen.

8
protons

Explanation:

The illustration above shows the structure of the oxygen which shows that there are 8 protons
inside the nucleus. Because of the strong force , these 8 protons do not separate and not affected by the
electromagnetic force.

3. WEAK FORCE - It is responsible for a process known as radioactive decay. During this process, a
neutron in the nucleus changes into a proton and an electron.

4. GRAVITY - is the force of attraction exerted between all objects in nature.

 In very small structure such as protons and electrons, the effect of gravity is small compared to
the effects of the other three forces. The role of gravity in the atom is not clearly understood but it can
still affect.

ELECTRONS

ELECTRONS - subatomic particles with a negative elementary electric charge

- has a mass that is approximately 1/1836 that of the proton