When atoms are made up of almost nothing and the cores cannot touch, how is it that stuff can be stacked on top of other stuff and touch?

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My son asked me this today, and while I thought that I had a sorta kinda basic idea (the cores don’t need to touch as it’s enough if the the electron cloud-thingies interact), I could not explain it so he could understand and neither was I sure enough of this being the correct answer. Can anyone help?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Technically it doesn’t touch. Whilst we see and here it ‘touch’, it’s still separated at that sub-atomic level by those opposing forces.

Just explain it to him that if you had a strong enough microscope (I don’t think one exists yet) you’d be able to see the gaps, and it’s actually the forces of these particles that hold things apart – similar to two magnets with the same pole.

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