nLab chemical element

Idea

In chemistry a type of atom is called a chemical element. The bound states of these are the molecules.

The atomic number of a chemical element is the number of protons in any atomic nuclei of this element.

The corresponding number of neutrons on the nucleus tends to be close to the number of protons, hence to the atomic number of the element, but need not equal it and my differ considerably for heavy elements. These variants of neutron number for give atomic number specify the isotopes of the chemical element.

The periodic table of the elements organizes the elements according to their atomic number. This behaviour is explained by the quantum physics of atoms. This transition area between quantum physics and chemistry is called quantum chemistry.

Examples

• carbon

• nitrogen

References

See also

• Wikipedia, Chemical element

Speculative analogy to classification of complex surfaces (different from but inspired by Skyrmion models for atomic nuclei):

• Michael Atiyah, Nicholas Manton, Complex Geometry of Nuclei and Atoms (arXiv:1609.02816)