For example, if you take a sample of human bone and put it under a microscope, how do you know if the atoms you’re seeing are calcium atoms? You can’t exactly count the protons on the inside, can you? Also, how do you distinguish between protons and neutrons? Do they reflect different wavelengths of light and so have different colours or something? I’ve also heard people saying that we can’t actually see atoms using microscopes, is that true? If so, how can we say something is made out, say, carbon, when we can’t see it? If the answer to that is that we have tests (flame tests for metals, precipitate tests, pH tests, etc…), then how did we know it is that element/compound that results in the test turning out a certain way? I have so many questions!
P.S. I know that nuclei aren’t really perfect spherical balls, but rather collections of protons and neutrons, which are spheres, in a classical, non-quantum-mechanical sense.
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You can’t see a nucleus with a microscope. The short answer is that you know how many protons + neutrons there are by the mass of the atom. And you know how many are protons or neutrons by its charge – protons have positive charge, and neutrons have no charge.
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