Atoms

It is difficult to explain the vastness of the universe and the complexities to kids. I find the Feynman technique to be indispensable in this regards. It is a process to convey ideas using concise thoughts and precise language that even a six year old can understand. My nieces (who are in the 6th grade) stumped me with a very simple question on how do atoms look like. I tried to draw a simple sphere with orbits around to give them a visual idea which led me to thinking on the ways of explaining when an atom is a wave and when it a particle. Here was my take on breaking down atoms and the sub-atomic particles.

1. Everything that is around us which we can coin as matter, can be broken down into indivisible parts called as atoms.
2. Every matter is formed by a combination of elements coming together to form complex compounds in the presence of necessary conditions of temperature and pressure.
3. We can find all the elements that are present on our earth on a grid known as periodic table
4. Each element is made up of atoms.
5. An atom comprises of a nucleus which has protons and neutrons. It also has electrons going around in orbits around the nucleus.
6. A proton is +ve charged, electron is -ve charged while a neutron is neutral.
7. The mass of an atom is concentrated at its nucleus with the equal weighted proton and neutron combining to form the total weight.
8. Each element has a specific number of protons, electrons and neutrons. The atomic number of an element is the number of protons in that element
9. An electron does not crash into the nucleus even though it is oppositely charged to that of the proton is due to the kinetic energy that causes it to move in its orbits around the nucleus.
10. Just like atoms combine to form molecules, elements combine to form compounds.- 2 atoms of element Hydrogen and 1 atom of element Oxygen combine to form 1 molecule of compound water
11. Compounds which have carbon in them are called organic compounds while the ones which do not have carbon are called inorganic
12. The motion of an electron around a nucleus can be described by a brand of physics known as quantum mechanics.
13. Schrodinger proposed that the behavior of each electron in an atom can be described by a wave equation (similar to a wave motion of a guitar string)
14. Solving this wave equation tells us the volume of space around the nucleus where the electron is most likely to be found which is called orbital
15. Think of the electrons in an atom as occupying a set of concentric shells. Shrodinger's wave equation gives us the orbitals which can be though of subshells of a shell which have a characteristic shape and energy and carry a specific volume.
16. There are multiple principles (Auf Bau, Pauli exclusion, Hund's rule) which define the configuration of electrons in orbitals inside an atom
17. The ability of atoms to form bonds by either transfer or sharing of electrons is what leads to the vast network of compounds.

When I was explaining them the view of an atom, they could corelate it to the model of the universe with the planets and their orbits and satellites revolving around the sun while spinning on their axis. Perhaps the quote (apparently by Einstein) -"The more I study science, the more I am amazed by the complexity of the universe and the more I believe in the existence of a creator", makes sense about the presence of a creator who built the universe by thinking in first principles.