Re: How is matter glued together ?
Posted by Dogrock on Apr 25, 2004 at 06:15
(194.145.130.113)Re: How is matter glued together ? (thierryk)
Things are held together because atoms share electrons. Along the edge of a very sharp iron knife the millions of atoms there are held together because they share electrons and will not break apart even when you cut something else. The item you cut does not have it's atoms broken either, just some go to either side of the cut but don't break in half. But if you leave this knive exposed to damp air long enough then other atoms will eventually joint the iron atoms and you'll see it as rust. The atoms are joining others and the edge you speak of now becomes blurred (it is no longer iron or damp air, but something in between). When you burn a sheet of paper you break the electron connections and the various groups of atoms go off and join with something else. An aluminium ladder won't rust because it's atoms do not share electrons with other atoms even after very long periods of bombardment. The difference between the inside and outside of iron, for example, is that the outside is continually being hit by atoms and eventually they join with the iron. This happens to all objects and is why many change if left lying around long enough. Hope this goes some way to answering your question.