Atoms Contain Mostly Empty Space

How much of an atom is empty space?

Very nearly all of it. Permit'southward take a look at an cantlet of hydrogen to see how empty it really is. Of grade, this diagram isn't drawn to scale...

A hydrogen atom.

A hydrogen atom is fabricated from a single proton that'due south circled by a single electron. How large is a hydrogen atom? The radius of a hydrogen atom is known equally the Bohr Radius, which is equal to .529 × ten^-x meters. That ways that a hydrogen atom has a volume of near 6.2 × x^-31 cubic meters.

How big is the proton at the center of a hydrogen atom? Recent studies indicate that protons have a radius of most .84 × 10^-15 meters, giving them a volume of most 2.v × 10^-45 cubic meters.

We need to do a niggling more math to find out how much of a hydrogen atom is empty infinite:

Per centum Full = 100 × (Volume Filled / Full Volume)
Per centum Full = 100 × (2.5 × ten^-45 1000³ / half-dozen.2 × 10^-31 1000³)
Pct Full = 100 × (iv × x^-15)
Percent Full = four × 10^-xiii %
Percent Full = 0.0000000000004%

If 0.0000000000004% of a hydrogen atom is full, then the rest of it must exist empty:

Percent Empty = 100% - Pct Full
Percent Empty = 100% - 0.0000000000004%
Percent Empty = 99.9999999999996%

A hydrogen atom is about 99.9999999999996% empty space. Put another way, if a hydrogen atom were the size of the earth, the proton at its centre would be nigh 200 meters (600 feet) beyond. While I wouldn't want something that big landing on my head, it's tiny compared to the size of the earth.

Steve Gagnon, Scientific discipline Education Specialist (Other answers by Steve Gagnon)