Matter and Radiation

Atoms

Inside the atom

An atom consists of three main components, the positive proton, the negative electron and the neutral neutron.
The proton and neutron are packed in the centre of the atom, known as the nucleus; the electrons, on the other hand, are in fact orbiting the nucleus at different energy levels known as electron shells. These different energy levels can vary between atoms with more or less electrons. As an example, an atom of sodium has three electron shells, however the hydrogen atom has only one electron shell.
Isotopes are atoms of the same element with a different number of neutrons but the same number of protons

Charge and Mass

Atoms have a mass and charge. This table represents the charge and mass of the nucleons (proton and neutron) and the electron. 

Using charge (C) and mass (Kg) we can workout the specific charge, measured in C/Kg by using this formula : Specific charge = Charge / Mass

Now this is the interesting part, which of these sub-atomic particles has the highest specific charge? I want YOU to do the calculations and reply which you think has the biggest specific charge. 

Some cool facts about atoms

-Atoms are mostly just empty space

-We know the atom consists of a proton neutron and electron, but if we look even closer there are sub-atomic particles within the sub-atomic particles!

-Everything we know is made up of atoms, a pen can contain more than a few million atoms.