About the Atom Lab 3D model (Chemistry)
Build any of the first 20 elements proton by proton, then travel through 3,500 years of atomic discovery on the element timeline.
Every atom is defined by its protons: change the proton count and you change the element itself. Neutrons add mass and create isotopes, while electrons decide the charge — lose one and the atom becomes a positive ion, gain one and it becomes negative. The timeline shows how our picture of the atom grew: Democritus imagined indivisible particles, Dalton gave them mass, Thomson found the electron, Rutherford found the nucleus, Bohr placed electrons in shells, and Chadwick completed the picture with the neutron.
What students learn from this chemistry model
- Build atoms of the first 20 elements by adding protons, neutrons and electrons
- Read atomic number, mass number, charge and electron shells for any element
- Make ions and isotopes and see what changes
- Follow the discovery of the atom from Democritus to Chadwick
Labelled parts explained
- What is the Nucleus in Atom Lab?
- The number of protons (the atomic number) decides which element you have built. Add or remove protons and watch the element change.
- What is the Proton in Atom Lab?
- Each proton carries a +1 charge and a mass of about 1 atomic mass unit. Protons define the element's identity.
- What is the Neutron in Atom Lab?
- Neutrons add mass without charge. Changing the neutron count makes an isotope of the same element.
- What is the Electron shell in Atom Lab?
- Shells fill from the inside out: 2 electrons in the first, up to 8 in the second and third for the first 20 elements.
- What is the Valence electrons in Atom Lab?
- The outer-shell electrons control bonding. A full outer shell (like the noble gases) makes an atom very unreactive.
- What is the Charge in Atom Lab?
- Equal protons and electrons give a neutral atom. Extra electrons make a negative ion (anion); missing electrons make a positive ion (cation).
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