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

Question

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

In: 332

Answer 1

Electrons repel each other, because they have a similar charge. This means they don’t get too close to the nucleus, because they would put them too close to each other. Atoms don’t get much closer to other atoms because the electrons clouds don’t want to touch.