Okay, so I understand that the number of protons in an atom defines the element. But why are there only 118 of them? Can’t we keep on adding protons to an atom to create new elements?

Question

EDIT: Thanks for all the responses!

In: 3337

Answer 1

You ever play with a **magnet** and **paperclips**? When you pick up a paperclip with a magnet, the paperclip becomes magnetic. You can pick up more and more and get a **chain of paperclips** going. As you keep adding them, the **magnetic force** eventually isn’t strong enough to hold them all up.

So what if a few people go together and held clumps of paper clips in the air, made them all touch so it looked like the magnet was holding them, and then let go? The chain would exist for a fraction of a second and then fall apart. **You can make a heavier chain**, but that doesn’t mean it’s stable enough to support it’s own weight.

**Magnet/Magnetic force = Strong Force**

**Paperclip = Protons**

**Chain of atoms = Atom**

**You can make a heavier chain** = Things like Roentgenium (111), an atom that we have made in labs but is believed to be impossible to be found naturally, since it would collapse immediately.