Electrification

- All matter is made up of atoms.

- Atoms are about 10–8 cm in diameter.
- Each atom is made up of a heavy central part, the nucleus, which has almost the
entire mass of the atom.
Nucleus
- has a diameter of about 10–12 cm
- consists of two basic types of particles, the proton and the neutron, except in the most
common isotope of hydrogen which has a single proton for its nucleus.
o The protons and neutrons are tightly packed in the nucleus.
- The nucleus is surrounded by electrons ( Greek word for amber, elektron).
o The electron has a unit negative (–) charge which is often called electronic
charge (the discrete unit of negative electricity)
o Electrons are all alike.
- Each proton has a unit positive (+) charge while the neutron has no charge.

- The number of neutrons generally increases as the number of protons is increased in

the nucleus.
- The total number of protons in the nucleus is also the total number of positive charges
in the atom and is numerically equal to the atomic number of the elements