What is the Size of an Atom?

Atomic Size of an atom is explained in terms of its radius. The distance from the center of the nucleus to the outermost shell of an atom is called its atomic radius. The atoms are very small particles and it is impossible to see atoms through the naked eye. Using a microscope also it is very difficult to see the atom only very powerful electrons microscope are able to see the electrons. The exact size of atoms is not easily calculated, as the location of the electron with respect to the nucleus of the atom can not be found. However can estimate the atomic radius as size to be, 10^-9 m.

We can visualize the size of atoms as,

Object	Radii (in m)
Atom of Hydrogen	10^-10 m
Grain of Sand	10^-4 m
A football	10^-1 m

From the above table, we can observe that a grain of sand has, 10⁶ atoms and a football has 10⁹ atoms.

What is Atom?

Atoms are tiny particles that comprise all the things in the known universe. Atoms of an element are responsible for all chemical reactions occurring in nature. We know that atoms are made up of three fundamental particles namely,

Electrons
Protons
Neutrons

These particles are also called subatomic particles as they are found inside atoms. An atom is the basic building block of matter and all the thing around us is made up of combing atoms in different proportions. Let’s learn more about Atom, its constituents, and its structure in detail in this article.

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