What a smallest particle of an element?

Answer 1

That's a good question! Originally, people thought that atoms were the smallest thing possible. However, with the discovery of the proton, neutron and electron, we've learned that even atoms can be broken up into smaller pieces!

The proton is a part of an atom inside the center of an atom (called the nucleus). It carries a positive charge.

The neutron is another part of an atom inside the nucleus. It has no charge, but gives the atom extra mass.

The electron is the last part of an atom. It isn't inside the nucleus; it floats around it like the planets orbit the sun. It carries a negative charge.

The simple answer is that protons, neutrons and electrons are the smallest particles of any given element. However, even these subatomic particles can be broken down into smaller pieces, called quarks. We're not going to go any further than that, though! It gets much more confusing when we start talking about this. You can usually ignore this, though.

TL;DR - Protons, neutrons, electrons.