The illusion of matter

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Everybody knows that all matter is composed of atoms, but there some facts about atoms that almost boggle the mind! For example, we all know that atoms are extremely small, but did you know that you could fit two billion atoms into the dot on top of each letter “i” in “billion”? An atom consists of a nucleus, containing protons and neutrons, and electrons that whizz in orbit round the nucleus. There are as many electrons as there are protons in the nucleus. However, what is not generally appreciated is that an atom consists mainly of empty space! If you could imagine an atom that was the size of a sports stadium, such as a Premiership football ground, then the electrons would be whizzing round the upper tiers of the stands and the nucleus would be a pea in the centre circle! In other words, all matter is an illusion – everything that exists does so thanks to the energy contained in atoms. The actual matter in the atoms is almost non-existent.