If everything is made of atoms, what are atoms made of?
Inside the Smallest Things
If everything is made of atoms, what are atoms made of?
You've heard it a hundred times: everything is made of atoms. Your sandwich, your sneakers, your left elbow — all atoms. But here's the question nobody stops to ask. If the whole universe is built out of atoms, then what, exactly, are the atoms built out of? Let's crack one open and look inside.
An atom is almost entirely empty space, which feels rude for something that builds everything. Way down in the middle sits a tiny dense clump called the nucleus. Around it, in a fuzzy blur, zip even tinier things called electrons. If the atom were a stadium, the nucleus would be a pea on the center spot — and the electrons would be gnats buzzing up in the nosebleed seats.
