The atoms of a solid are strongly attracted to each other. Solids keep their shape because of these strong attractions. The atoms vibrate but do not move past each other.

Each atom in the ideal crystalline solid experiences the same potential due to the other atoms in the material. The binding energy of the atom in the solid is the depth of the potential well at its ...

British philosopher Bertrand Russell said of the difference between our physical world experience and the scientific world of continually changing matter, “There is … some conflict between what common ...

oxygen is two atoms joined together, so it’s represented by O2. So iron, Fe, reacts with oxygen in the air, O2, to make iron oxide: Fe2O3. Let’s try it with another reaction. When solid ...

He concluded that all matter was made of tiny particles called atoms. He suggested that an atom was a tiny solid ball. He published his ideas in 1803. This atomic model has changed over time.