Difference Between Atoms and Elements

Thekey differencebetween atoms and elements is that theatoms are the smallest units that build up all matter whereas an element is a species of atoms that includes the atoms that share the same chemical and physical properties.

我们周围看到和感觉到的任何东西都称为重要。这件事由人类和动物以及植物和非生物（例如水和岩石）组成，由非常小的颗粒组成，我们认为这些颗粒是物质的基础。一个化学元素描述了一种原子。

CONTENTS

1.Overview and Key Difference
2.What are Atoms
3.What are Elements
4.并排比较,原子和元素选项卡ular Form
5.概括

What are Atoms?

An atom is the smallest repeating unit that makes up all matter. An atom is extremely small, and its size is around 100 pm. The mass of atoms centres to the atomic nucleus which containsprotons and neutrons. Also, there is anelectron围绕该核的云。因此，质子，中子和电子是原子的亚原子颗粒。

Usually, the number of protons in the nucleus equals the number of electrons and neutrons. However, there are some atoms which have the same number of protons but has different numbers of neutrons. We name them asisotopesof a chemical element (because if the atoms have the same number of protons, it indicates that the atoms belong to the same chemical element). Furthermore, the sum of the masses of protons and neutrons determines the mass of the atom (the mass of an electron is negligible compared to protons and neutrons).

What are Elements?

A chemical element is a species of atoms. Thus, atoms have the chemical and physical properties of its particular chemical element. Hence, the atoms of the same chemical element share the same chemical and physical properties. Especially, these atoms have the same number of protons in their atomic nucleus. But, the number of neutrons can be equal or different. If the number of neutrons is different from one atom to another, we name them as isotopes of the chemical element.

For instance, the oxygen atom has 8 protons in its nucleus. Therefore, an atom should have 8 protons if we are to name it as oxygen. Then, all the atoms of the chemical element oxygen have 8 protons in its nucleus.

Besides, all the chemical elements are listed in theperiodic table of elements. It has 118 known chemical elements. Among them, 94 are naturally occurring elements. Other 24 are synthetic ones. Moreover, there are 80 elements which have at least one stable isotope. Likewise, the periodic table of elements has arranged the chemical elements in the ascending order of atomic number (the number of protons in the nucleus). There are periodic trends of chemical and physical properties of these elements.

What is the Difference Between Atoms and Elements?

所有物质都包含原子。此外，其原子核中具有相同数量的质子的原子属于同一化学物种。化学元素。因此，原子和元素之间的关键区别在于原子是构成所有物质的最小单元，而元素是一种原子，其中包括具有相同化学和物理性质的原子。此外，单个原子可以在其核中具有等量或不同数量的质子和中子。但是同一化学元件的原子具有相等数量的质子和中子。但是，如果数字不同，我们将其命名为该化学元素的同位素。

The below infographic summarizes the difference between atoms and elements in tabular form.

概括– Atoms vs Elements

All matter is made up of tiny particles called atoms. Elements are chemical species that consists of a single type of atoms. Hence, every single atom of an element retains the properties of that element and is the smallest unit of that element having the same properties. Therefore, the key difference between atoms and elements is that the atoms are the smallest units that build up all matter whereas an element is a species of atoms that includes the atoms which share the same chemical and physical properties.

Reference:

1. “Chemical Element.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Oct. 2018.Available here
2.“原子。”Wikipedia，Wikimedia基金会，2018年10月10日。Available here

Image Courtesy:

1.”Atom”By Svdmolen/Jeanot(CC BY-SA 3.0)viaCommons Wikimedia
2.“简单的周期性表图”。Commons Wikimedia