Native speakers only. Any kind of accent is fine (british, american, canadian or australian)
An atom is the smallest unit of matter that has the properties of a chemical element. Every solid, liquid, gas, and plasma (it depends from pressure and heat values) is composed of atoms.
Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and typically a similar number of neutrons. Protons and neutrons are called nucleons. Over 99.94% of the atom's mass is in the nucleus. The protons have a positive electric charge, the electrons have a negative electric charge, and the neutrons have no electric charge. If the number of protons and electrons are equal, that atom is electrically neutral. If an atom has more or fewer electrons than protons, then it has an overall negative or positive charge, respectively, and it is called an ion.
The number of protons in the nucleus defines to what chemical element the atom belongs: for example, all iron atoms contain 26 protons. The number of neutrons defines the isotope of the element. The number of electrons influences the magnetic properties of an atom. Atoms can attach to one or more other atoms by chemical bonds to form chemical compounds such as molecules. The ability of atoms to associate and dissociate is responsible for most of the physical changes observed in nature, and is the subject of the discipline of chemistry.
