eli5: if atoms are mostly empty space, why can’t we see gaps in everything?
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When you look at the sky, what do you see? You see a 3D field of view that shows the resolution of your eyes, which are imperfect cameras made from blobs of jelly and mucus and nerve endings.
Can you see the Oort Cloud with the naked eye? Maybe, if you’ve got some amazingly good eyesight.
But the same reason we can’t determine individual pixels in this punctuation mark -> . <- is the reason we can’t see the spaces between individual atoms.
If you think about it, it’s the same reason you can’t see the gap between the door and the floor if it’s fitted correctly – it’s there, it’s just at a resolution your eyes cannot process.
One day we may well have the technology and the cameras to allow us to see down to the subatomic level, but that day is not today.
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