eli5: if atoms are mostly empty space, why can’t we see gaps in everything?
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Atoms are do not have a bunch of empty space per se. The model we use to describe atoms does. We call this model the planetary model because it shows a core nucleus with orbiting electrons. While this model helps us understand how an atom behaves, it’s not a representation of reality.
In reality electrons are hard to pin down. They exist in a “cloud” of probability around an atom. You can’t compress that cloud in any way. When 2 clouds of probabilities meet they either repel each other or overlap. When those clouds overlap they form a bond which makes 2 atoms attached to each other by their probability clouds.
Let’s imagine an atom more like proximity detonated bomb that we have no way of affecting. We know the radius that the bomb detects and stay out of it. While there is nothing truly physical stopping us from entering that space, it is effectively the same as if there was a wall there. Anything that enters that space becomes affected by the bomb.
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