We have other ways to "feel" the shape of atoms without seeing them, however. Last week physicists published a study in the journal Nature measuring the shape of the nucleus of a Radium-224 (Ra-224) ...

More information: Lukas M. Veldman et al, Coherent spin dynamics between electron and nucleus within a single atom, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52270-0.

Now, as for "breaking" an atom, this typically refers to splitting the nucleus. As a quick aside, it is not hard to remove some of the electrons from the cloud.

The nucleus is the atom's central core and contains more than 99.9 percent of its mass. Surrounding the nucleus is a cloud of electrons, which makes up most of the atom's volume.

How Does The Nucleus Hold Together? Season 9 Episode 5 | 14m 28s Video has Closed Captions | CC. Nuclei are held together by a quirk of nature, without which there’d be nothing.

For nearly 50 years, physicists have dreamed of the secrets they could unlock by raising the energy state of an atom's nucleus using a laser. The achievement would allow today's atomic clocks to ...

The Size of the Nucleus . Truth is, we cannot draw a faithful picture of an atom. The one on the left is no exception. An atom has no color; it’s too small, relative to light waves.

Helium is the simplest element in the periodic table with more than one particle in its nucleus, yet state of the art theory and experiments on it don't add up. Skip to main content Open menu ...

Graph that and you find that the electron’s highest probability is close to the center of the atom, but not inside it. Add It Up Here’s a nice little argument for why electrons don’t just ...

More information: Lukas M. Veldman et al, Coherent spin dynamics between electron and nucleus within a single atom, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52270-0 Journal ...

Coherent spin dynamics between electron and nucleus within a single atom. Nature Communications , 2024; 15 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52270-0 Cite This Page : ...