Video: What is a molecule and how does it differ from an atom
2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:53
Many centuries ago, people guessed that any substance on earth consists of microscopic particles. Some time passed, and scientists proved that these particles really exist. They are called atoms. Usually atoms cannot exist separately and are combined into groups. These groups are called molecules.
The very name "molecule" comes from the Latin word moles, meaning heaviness, lump, bulk, and the diminutive suffix - cula. Previously, instead of this term, the word “corpuscle” was used, literally meaning “small body”. In order to find out what a molecule is, let's turn to explanatory dictionaries. Ushakov's dictionary says that this is the smallest particle that can exist autonomously and has all the properties of the substance to which it refers. Molecules and atoms are all around us, and while they can't be felt, all we see is actually gigantic clusters of them.
Water example
The best way to explain what a molecule is is to take a glass of water as an example. If you pour from ithalf, the taste, color and composition of the remaining water will not change. It would be strange to expect something else. If you cast half again, the amount will decrease, but the properties will again remain the same. Continuing in the same spirit, we will eventually get a small droplet. It can still be divided with a pipette, but this process cannot be continued indefinitely.
Ultimately, the smallest particle will be obtained, the remainder of the division of which will no longer be water. In order to imagine what a molecule is and how small it is, try to guess how many molecules are in one drop of water. What do you think? Billion? One hundred billion? In fact, there are about a hundred sextillions there. This is a number that has twenty-three zeros after the one. It is difficult to imagine such a value, so let's use a comparison: the size of one water molecule is less than a large apple by as many times as the apple itself is smaller than the globe. Therefore, it cannot be seen even with the most powerful optical microscope.
Structure of molecules and atoms
As we already know, all microscopic particles are in turn made up of atoms. Depending on their number, the orbits of the central atoms, and the type of bonds, the geometric shape of the molecules can be different. For example, human DNA is twisted in the form of a spiral, and the smallest particle of ordinary table s alt has the form of a crystal lattice. If a molecule somehow takes away a few atoms, it will be destroyed. At the same time, the latter will not go anywhere, but will enterinto another microparticle.
After we figured out what a molecule is, let's move on to an atom. Its structure is very reminiscent of a planetary system: in the center is a nucleus with neutrons and positively charged protons, and electrons rotate around in different orbits. In general, the atom is electrically neutral. In other words, the number of electrons is equal to the number of protons.
We hope that our article was useful, and now you no longer have questions about what a molecule and an atom are, how they are arranged and how they differ.
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