Protons and Electrons
The smallest particle of an element would be an atom. Any smaller and it would not be an element, but something more basic. Atoms are made of Protons, Neutrons, and Electrons. Protons and Neutrons are made of Quarks, Leptons, and Bosons.
If you attempt to decompose an element, you would be trying to break it down into simpler substances or its constituent particles, such as atoms or subatomic particles. However, elements are defined by their unique atomic structure, and you cannot chemically decompose them into simpler forms. Instead, you can only change their state or combine them with other elements to form compounds. To break an element down to its fundamental particles, you would need to use nuclear reactions, which are complex and typically require high-energy environments.
Atoms are the smallest unit of an element that retains the chemical properties of that element. They are comprised of protons, neutrons, and electrons, and any smaller subatomic particles would not maintain the characteristics unique to that element.
To understand, you first need to understand the difference between an element and a compound. An element is any element from the Periodic table. For example, oxygen. A compound is a substance in which more than one element are bonded chemically. This is not to be confused with a mixture, which is simple a mixture of substances with no chemical bonding. An example of a compound would be water, consisting of hydrogen and oxygen bonded together.Now that we've established to difference between an element and a compound, we can explore what the smallest particle of each is. The "smallest particle" is the smallest you can go while still keeping the properties of the original substance.The smallest particle of an element would be an atom. But when dealing with compounds, if you break them down to atoms, then those atoms don't have the same properties as a compound. The smallest particle of a compound is a molecule. In our example of water, a water molecule consists of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, chemically bonded together. The molecule, consisting of three atoms, has the chemical properties of water. But if you break it down so you just have an oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms, none of them would have the properties of the original compound (water).Thus, the smallest particle of an element is an atom, and the smallest particle of a compound is a molecule. The difference between the two is that an atom is an atom, and a molecule is two or more atoms chemically bonded.
That would be AN ATOM.
If an element were broken down into its smallest particles, you would get atoms of that element. Each atom is the smallest unit of an element that retains the properties of that element.
No. The smallest particle of an element that has the properties of that element is an atom.
The atom is the smallest particle of an element that retains it's characteristics. Sub-atomic particles such as protons, neutrons and electrons form the atom and it is the amount of each of these sub-atomic particles that make the element that element.
The smallest basic particle of an element is an atom. Atoms and molecules formed of them are the smallest particles that have the physical and chemical properties of the element. Atoms, however, are made of smaller particles: electrons, protons, and neutrons, of which the electron is the smallest. There are various supplementary particles that connect or interact with them (e.g. mesons). These atomic particles are formed by the combination of constituent particles called quarks, which do not normally exist in uncombined forms (where, oddly, they would have much greater mass than the particles they constitute).
If the substance is an element, the smallest will be an atom. If it is a compound, then that would be a molecule.
For an element, it would be an atom. For a molecular substance, it would be a molecule. If it is an ionic compound, it would be a formula unit.
yes.
It would be inaccurate because atoms are made of subatomic particles, which actually make up the element. These subatomic particles have either a positive, negative, or neutral charge. The positively charged particles are called protons. The negatively charged particles are called electrons. The neutral particles are called neutrons. The protons and neutrons are grouped together in the nucleus of an atom, with the electrons orbiting around.
The smallest particle of an element would be an atom. Any smaller and it would not be an element, but something more basic. Atoms are made of Protons, Neutrons, and Electrons. Protons and Neutrons are made of Quarks, Leptons, and Bosons.
Lithium is an element. As such, it has no other substance in it, it is pure lithium. If you wished to analyse it further, you would have to break it down into subatomic particles.
Atoms are indeed very small, but there are even smaller particles that make up atoms, such as protons, neutrons, and electrons. These subatomic particles are the building blocks of atoms and are themselves much smaller than atoms.
If you attempt to decompose an element, you would be trying to break it down into simpler substances or its constituent particles, such as atoms or subatomic particles. However, elements are defined by their unique atomic structure, and you cannot chemically decompose them into simpler forms. Instead, you can only change their state or combine them with other elements to form compounds. To break an element down to its fundamental particles, you would need to use nuclear reactions, which are complex and typically require high-energy environments.