8th Grade Science Packet Week 4: May 11th – 17th

DIRECTIONS: Please read and answer the questions as you go. If you need extra help or information, visit Google Classroom to access more resources and contact your teacher.

Week 4 Packet: "Atoms and the Particles Inside of Them" Name: ______Period: ____

DIRECTIONS: Please read and answer the questions as you go. If you need extra help or information, visit Google Classroom to access more resources and contact your teacher.

^ These are the 3 states of matter. Those little circles are particles called “atoms.” Atoms are the stuff that make up all states of matter!

Matter is all around us: the air we breathe, the water we drink, the phones we use to take selfies. Anything that has mass AND takes up space is matter. There are 3 types (or “states”) of matter: solids, liquids, & gases. All 3 states of matter are made of small particles. 1. What is matter? ______2. How many states of matter are there? ______3. Which states of matter are made of small particles? ______

The particles that make up matter are called atoms. There are trillions of atoms everywhere – including the 65,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms on your hand! Atoms are so small that they cannot be seen with the human eye. A special microscope is needed to zoom in on matter and see the atoms up close. 4. What are the particles that make up matter called? ______5. Why can’t you see atoms with your eye? ______6. What could you use to see atoms? ______

 This is what an atom looks like! You can see that there are even SMALLER particles inside of atoms. That means atoms are NOT the smallest particles. Atoms have 3 smaller particles inside of them: protons, neutrons, and electrons. Protons are particles with a positive charge, shown with a plus sign (+). Protons are in the center of the atom. Neutrons are particles with no charge. Neutrons are also in the center of the atom. Neutrons are like glue holding the center together. 7. TRUE OR FALSE: Atoms are the smallest particles that exist. ______8. What are the 3 particles inside of atoms? ______9. What are protons? ______10. What sign is used to show the positive charge of protons? ______11. What are neutrons? ______12. What do neutrons do? ______

The center of the atom is called the nucleus. “Nucleus” is just another name for the center of the atom. The nucleus is made of both protons and neutrons. If the nucleus splits open, it can create an explosion with a lot of energy. This does not happen all of the time, but when the nucleus of an atom is split, it is called nuclear fission. That is how an “atomic bomb” works… and that’s why they call it a “nuke” (which refers to the nucleus). 13. What is the center of the atom called? ______14. What particles make up the nucleus? ______15. What is it called when the nucleus of an atom is split? ______

On the outside of the nucleus, there is mostly empty space. Electrons are located in this empty area outside of the nucleus. Electrons are particles with a negative charge, shown with a minus sign (-). Electrons are the only particle inside of an atom that are NOT part of the nucleus. Instead of being in the center, electrons are found outside of the nucleus. 16. What is on the outside of the nucleus? ______17. What are electrons? ______18. Where are electrons located? ______19. What sign is used to show the negative charge of electrons? ______20. What particle is NOT part of the nucleus? ______

There are many different types of atoms that exist in the world! For example, there are Oxygen atoms in the air, Carbon atoms in human skin, and Iron atoms in food. Each type of atom is called an element. Other elements include things you know like Gold, Silver, and Lead. The Periodic Table is a chart that shows all of the elements that exist. The Periodic Table lists elements in order of their Atomic Number. The Atomic Number is the number of protons that an element has. The Atomic Number is the top number in an element’s square on the Periodic Table. Oxygen’s Atomic Number is 8 so it has 8 protons. 21. What is each type of atom called? ______22. What is the Periodic Table? ______23. What does the Atomic Number mean? ______24. How are elements listed on the Periodic Table? ______25. If an element’s Atomic Number is 6, how many protons does it have? ______