What are Atoms? The smallest parts of Elements and YOU!

Summary

Atoms are the basic building blocks of matter. They make up everything from rocks, plants, animals, cars, and computers to the Earth itself.

Atoms are extraordinarily small. The video compares a grain of sand to a beach, saying that a single grain contains more atoms than there are grains of sand on the entire beach.

Elements are different kinds of atoms. The video says that 94 kinds occur naturally and scientists have created 24 more, for a total of 118. These elements are organized in the Periodic Table, and each has its own properties.

Most of the human body is made from six elements:

• Oxygen: 65%
• Carbon: 18%
• Hydrogen: 10%
• Nitrogen: 3%
• Calcium: 1.5%
• Phosphorus: 1%

The atoms in your body continually change. We take atoms in through food, drink, and breathing, and release them through sweating, exhaling, and going to the bathroom. The video says that within about a year, almost all the atoms in the body will have been replaced.

Our atoms come from many places. They may have been part of fish, crops, fruits, vegetables, or water from around the world.

The video ends with a philosophical question: If the atoms in your body keep changing, what makes you you?

Speaker

Professor Tidlybit — presenter and narrator.