just how small is an atom?

found via explore  in summary .....


each atom is made up of protons, neutrons and electrons


how small is an atom - to answer that lets ask this questions - how many atoms are in a grapefruit?


lets assume its just made up of nitrogen atoms (not true but there is some nitrogen atoms in a grapefruit)


if we blow up each atom to the size of a blueberry how big would the grapefruit be?


the size of the earth


if you looked at the centre of each atom you'd see at the centre the nucleus consisting of protons and neutrons - and on the outside electrons


so how big is the nucleus? - well if the atom was still the size of a blueberry then the nucleus would be invisible - too small to see


if we below up the atom to the size of a 2 story house - then the nucleus would be barely visible


if the atom was the size of a football stadium then the nucleus would be the size of a small marble


atom is made up of loads of space


and how dense is the nucleus?


if you were fitting car nuclei into a 1ft square box then you'd need to fit 6.2 billion cars worth of nuclei into the box