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Can you explain why the estimation of the diameter of an atom is greater or less than the known value?
Here's a guess... Without getting overly complicated.... The diameter of the atom isn't just the diameter of the atom's nucleus... it is the diameter of the whole atom including the electron cloud surrounding the nucleus. As the name implies, an electron cloud represents all the possible locations that the electron could be. This cloud has thickness and therefore the atom could be smaller if the electron is in a portion of the cloud closer to the nucleus or larger is the electron is in a portion of the cloud farther from the nucleus. The "known value" is probably just the average of the two. Therefore, an atom's diameter has a range rather than a fixed value.
How does the radius of the electron cloud compare to the radius of the nucleus?
It is about 100,000 times larger
Why does the electron cloud have a very small mass?
The electron cloud has such a small mass because that's where all the electrons are! Electrons are fundamental particles having a mass of only 9.109 X 10-31 kg. To put that into perspective, a proton has a mass of over 1,800 times that of the electron.
How many times larger is the radius of the electron cloud than the radius of the nucleus?
100,000 times
Does lighting come from the ground?
There are 3 main places lightening can travel from. The ground to a cloud, a cloud to a cloud, and the cloud to the ground.
