is there a center of an atom?

Question

once u find the center of a cell or atom u come across mostly space right? so whats inside that space? do u ever get to an actual center point of an atom? or would it go on forever into its self? i think u know what i mean... any ideas?

Answer 1

The "mostly emptly space" description is a classical one. It really doesn't have much meaning in quantum mechanics. Although the classical radius of an electron is very small, the electronic wavefunction in a solid material, for example, fills most of the space.

Answer 2

Both atoms and (some) cells have a center called a "nucleus." The word really just means the core.

They are very different sizes, so they get talked about in very different ways. A cell (very roughly, one ten-millionth to one millionth of a meter) and its nucleus are full of liquid: water, mostly, with proteins and a lot of other things.

An atom (very roughly one ten-billionth of a meter) is mostly "empty" except for its nucleus (very roughly a millionth of a billionth of a meter).

At that level, the word "empty" really has no meaning. Heisenberg uncertainty spreads particles out so that the particle is really everywhere, somewhat, so no point can be wholly empty. Then there's an ocean of virtual particles (quantum weirdness - they appear from nowhere and disappear back, very quickly) in "empty" space, and lots of other things going on.

I'd tell a second-grader that the atom is mostly empty. I'd tell an adult as much of the whole story as they can grasp, up to the very narrow limits of my own knowledge.

Answer 3

It's called the nucleus. Most of the space in an atom is between the nucleus and the electron shells.

Answer 4

The center of an atom is the nucleus.

Answer 5

There is the center of mass of an atom, or better a molecule.