What are elements?
Elements are substances made up of just one type of atom.
Back to that atom thing, already?
For instance, aluminum foil is made up of aluminum, an element. Every atom in a sample of aluminum is made up of atoms that are exactly the same.
An atom is made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Which are… Hold that thought!
It's as if all this stuff is interconnected!
How about we take a shot at defining an atom?
An atom is a particle of matter made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons which combine in specific combinations. The different combinations of the protons, neutrons, and electrons result in different atoms.There are—let's just say—about a hundred ways that protons, neutrons, and electrons can combine into an atom that won't fall apart. Atoms that don't fall apart can be thought of as stable. Each configuration…Configuration? Whazzzat?Count up the number of protons, number of neutrons, and number of electrons. That's—let's call that the configuration for the atom: the unique combination of the number of protons, number of neutrons, and number of electrons. For example, an atom that has six proton and six neutrons (and six electrons) is called a carbon atom. That configuration is for the atoms that make the element carbon.
Okay, so, back to elements…
When a substance is made up entirely of atoms that each have the same configuration—that is to say, made up entirely of a single type of atom, then it is an element.
Saying the same thing in different ways…
Elements are substances made up of just one type of atom.Elements are substances made up of a single type of atom.Every atom in an element is of the same type.Every atom in an element is made up of the same combination of electrons, protons, and neutrons.
A substance made up of a single type of atom is an element.
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