> The word "atom" comes from a Greek word that translates to which of thefollowing? Considering small, magical, invisible and uncuttable, the answer is: uncuttable. The word "atom" comes from the Greek word atomos, which means uncuttable orindivisible. The scientists who first gave the atom its name imagined itcouldn't be split or divided into smaller pieces.Photo credit: Altayb/iStock[https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/atom-molecule-gm1021166968-274276641]Atomsare some of the smallest particles known to man. At the time of their discoveryaround 5 BCE, Greek philosopher Democritus believed that these particles ofmatter could not be further divided – but modern science has proved otherwise.Atoms may be the building blocks of elements, yet they can be divided intosmaller particles through processes like nuclear fission and nuclear decay.Additionally, we now know that atoms consist of even smaller elements calledquarks and leptons. While an electron is a lepton, protons and neutrons consistof three quarks each (sound like gibberish yet?).There are over 7 billion billion billion (yes, you read that right) atoms in ourbodies, yet we replace around 98% of them every year. Even more fascinating:atoms are composed of 99.9% empty space. Nearly all of the mass is contained inthe nucleus, where the protons and neutrons can be found. Orbiting outside ofthe nucleus are the electrons, which carry a negative charge and are far smallerthan protons or neutrons. Around 92 atoms occur naturally in nature. Each element itself has a differentamount of protons, which are largely responsible for its respective elementalqualities. Hydrogen, the first element, has only one proton, while nitrogen hassix. Some elements are even created through atoms bonded together, like sodiumchloride. Learn more about the building blocks of life below.