Eli5 why is that an atom is 99,6 % empty space ?

Question

Eli5 why is that an atom is 99,6 % empty space ?

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Answer 1

You’ve learned about protons, neutrons and electrons right? The building blocks of atoms.

Well. Diagrams tend to show them as large spheres in the center, and electrons as smaller spheres orbiting on nice circles.

That scale is really really exaggerated. For even the heaviest atoms, the nucleus is tiny in comparison to the orbits of even the nearest electrons.

You’d never ever see them if diagrams were to scale, so they make them much larger.