Is everything hollow?

An atom has more than 99% free space. I remember reading somewhere that if we consider a real size football field as the complete atom, the football in the center will be the nucleus of that atom and the rest will be free space. Then how come we all are solid? I mean if the free space is more than 99%, then everything should pass through everything. How come this does not happen?

Easy Math Editor

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Comments

i remember reading somewhere that electrons repel each other strongly,maybe that's it.

Tan Li Xuan - 8 years, 1 month ago

what do you mean by "electrons push each other apart strongly"...why would they push each other???

Sayan Chaudhuri - 8 years, 1 month ago

Through electrostatic force of repulsion probably. Like repel and unlike attract.

Lokesh Sharma - 8 years, 1 month ago

@Lokesh Sharma – yes,that's what i meant

Tan Li Xuan - 8 years, 1 month ago

it is electro static force of repulsion which acts between electrons and electrons;protons and protons due to same charge about 1.6*10 to the power 19. it means that electrons repel each other not push each other which is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction

Ayush Porwal - 8 years, 1 month ago

Ever heard of Rutherford's Gold Foil Experiment? It's the first example of atoms being empty space. Look it up. Now, applying this to everyday objects is a different story. Gasses can easily pass through one another, which we call diffusion. Liquids can also move around other liquids. However, the strong bonds that are between the atoms and molecules of a solid don't allow the molecules to move out of that tough framework, and thus they will not move around other objects very easily. But not all solids are 99% space. A neutron star is a collapsed star made entirely of neutrons, packed together with no space in between. Also, things called neutrinos, much small than the nuclei of atoms, are rushing through everything right now, trillions of them. So yes, nearly everything is hollow in that sense.

Bob Krueger - 8 years, 1 month ago

A tennisball from neutron star can be as heavy as whole earth, around 5.97× 10^24 kg.

Hammam Muhamad - 8 years, 1 month ago

Well .......actually a teaspoon full of Neutron star matter will be equal to the mass of the whole earth ......

Rohan Kapil - 8 years, 1 month ago

initially you were right but you agreed that they are hollow "in the sense". Actually, atom's molecules are so tightly packed i.e their lattice is strongest then all kinds of matter. you must have read that no of protons vary in elements so their nucleus size will also vary. basic key is this that nucleus repel to other nucleus and so electrons. so matter is not hollow.. since every charge body has electric field so it well have some kind energy and you very well know that energy can't be carried without matter. so there must be some small bodies that are against the collory that matter is hollow. and the talk about Rutherford model helium alpha particles have considerable amount of energy so they must have crossed these small atomic bodies by pushing them forward.

Ayush Porwal - 8 years, 1 month ago

ur ans is density n bob has elaborated that

Himank bhalla - 8 years, 1 month ago

Math	Appears as
Remember to wrap math in `\(` ... `\)` or `\[` ... `\]` to ensure proper formatting.
`2 \times 3`	$2 \times 3$
`2^{34}`	$2^{34}$
`a_{i-1}`	$a_{i-1}$
`\frac{2}{3}`	$\frac{2}{3}$
`\sqrt{2}`	$\sqrt{2}$
`\sum_{i=1}^3`	$\sum_{i=1}^3$
`\sin \theta`	$\sin \theta$
`\boxed{123}`	$\boxed{123}$