The Complete List of Every Atom in the Universe

Scientists have not only discovered every one of the 92 different types of atoms found in nature but they have also been able to synthesize 26 different types of atoms that do not exist in nature. Many of these atoms have familiar names:

The Complete List of Every Atom in the U.

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You may even recognize that these atoms are more commonly listed on a chart found in every chemistry classroom in the world:

Periodic Table of the Atoms.docx

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No, I did not make a mistake with the title. And yes, it is much more commonly referred to as the Periodic Table of the Elements! But it it is not inaccurate to also call it the Periodic Table of the Atoms. In fact, the two different numbers on each block of the Table provide information about the internal components (sub-atomic particle counts) that make up each different atom.

Elements are the purest and simplest substances that exist; each element is made of only one type of atom. That's why each type of atom and element has the same name. The atoms are just the smallest "indivisible" particle of any element. Gold is one element; a solid (24K) gold nugget that you could hold in your hand is made up of billions of trillions of gold atoms!

Discovering each of the 92 naturally occurring atoms became a matter of discovering the 92 naturally occurring elements. Discovering the 92 different elements(atoms) took the work of many brilliant chemists and physicists over the course of decades of time. It took a combination of trial and error testing and the use of very sophisticated analytical laboratory techniques.

Because elements are the simplest and purest of chemical substances, they cannot be broken down or separated into simpler forms. In their effort to find all of the elements/atoms, scientists worked to decompose all known substances until they couldn't be reduced to simpler form. Despite a number of mistakes (misidentifications) along the way, scientists have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have discovered every one of the 92 naturally occurring elements/atoms found on Earth and beyond!

Of the 92 natural elements only two exist as liquids, 11 as gases, the remaining 79 are solids with the majority of those classified as metals.