Today in class we learned about atoms. Atoms are so small that if you made a grapefruit the size of the world an atom would only be the size of a blueberry. They are made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Protons have a positive charge. Neutrons have no charge. Electrons have a negative charge. Neutrons and protons make up the center of an atom. It’s called the nucleus. Neutrons are there to stop the protons from touching each other. Electrons are always moving around in the atom so they don’t touch. Different elements have different amounts of protons, neutrons, and electrons. The way to tell how many protons are in an element is to simply look to the top left of the element.

Here is and example:

In the oxygen element has 8 protons because in the top left it has the number eight which also means that it is the 8th numbber on the periodic table.

To find the amount of neutrons you have subtract the atomic number from the atomic weight. If we were trying to find the amount of neutrons in the oxygen element then the atomic number is 8 and the atomic weight is 15.9994. Round the atomic weight and then subtract. So it would be 16-8=8. The amount of neutrons in the oxygen element in every atom is 8.
To find the number of electrons you just have to know the number of protons. The oxygen element has 8 protons so it has 8 electrons. Electrons usually have the same number as protons to stay neutral.

The oxygen element just happens to have the same number of protons, neutrons, and electrons for each oxygen atom but other elements are different.