Build an Atom

Build an Atom Screenshot
  • Atoms
  • Atomic Structure
  • Isotope Symbols
Java Logo Original Sim and Translations

Topics

  • Atoms
  • Atomic Structure
  • Isotope Symbols
  • Atomic Nuclei

Description

Build an atom out of protons, neutrons, and electrons, and see how the element, charge, and mass change. Then play a game to test your ideas!

Sample Learning Goals

  • Use the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons to draw a model of the atom, identify the element, and determine the mass and charge.
  • Predict how addition or subtraction of a proton, neutron, or electron will change the element, the charge, and the mass.
  • Use the element name, mass, and charge to determine the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons.
  • Define proton, neutron, electron, atom, and ion.
  • Generate an isotopic symbol for an atom, given the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons.
Version 1.6.14

Teacher Tips

Download teacher tips PDF Overview of sim controls, model simplifications, and insights into student thinking ( PDF ).

Teacher-Submitted Activities

Games Remote Lesson ideas A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein MS
UG-Intro
HS
K-5
Remote
HW
Mathematics
Chemistry
Physics
Build an Atom Game Remote Lab A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein HS
UG-Intro
MS
Remote
HW
Physics
Chemistry
Earth Science
Biology
Build an Atom - Inquiry-based basics (homework version) A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein, Kath Perkins K-5
UG-Intro
HS
MS
HW
Lab
Remote
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Earth Science
Concept questions for Physics using PhET (Inquiry Based) A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein UG-Intro
HS
MC Physics
Build an Atom A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Emily Moore, Ariel Paul, Trish Loeblein, Kathy Perkins MS Guided
Lab
HW
Chemistry
Build an Atom - Clicker Questions A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Yuen-ying Carpenter, Robert Parson, Trish Loeblein UG-Intro MC Chemistry
Build an Atom - Guided-Inquiry Activity A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Timothy Herzog, Emily Moore UG-Intro Guided Chemistry
Atomic Addition A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. Mary Burr MS Guided
Discuss
Mathematics
What is an atom? A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. Shari Dunham HS
UG-Intro
Guided Chemistry
How do PhET simulations fit in my middle school program? This contribution was designed by PhET. Sarah Borenstein MS Other Earth Science
Biology
Physics
Chemistry
Alignment of PhET sims with NGSS This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein updated by Diana López MS
HS
Other Biology
Earth Science
Chemistry
Physics
PhET Sims Aligned to the Chemistry Curriculum This contribution was designed by PhET. Julia Chamberlain UG-Intro
HS
Other Chemistry
Build An Atom Guided Inquiry John Swiniuch HS Guided Chemistry
Mapping of PhET and IBDP Physics Jaya Ramchandani HS Other Physics
MS and HS TEK to Sim Alignment Elyse Zimmer HS
MS
Other Chemistry
Physics
Biology
Roll an Atom Hana Buttles MS
K-5
HW Chemistry
Visual Nucleosynthesis [Basic High School] Blake Wiehe HS Guided
Lab
Chemistry
Physics
Estrutura atômica Victor Augusto Bianchetti Rodrigues HS Guided Chemistry
Physics
Unguided atoms intro Martin Hofkamp HS
MS
Lab
HW
Chemistry
Playing with atoms Simon Lees HS Guided
HW
Lab
Chemistry
PhET Atom Simulator Laura Murgo HS
MS
Lab
Guided
Chemistry
Ion Formation Rasha Metwally MS Guided Chemistry
Making STABLE Atoms Lab Jonathan Johnson HS
MS
Lab Chemistry
Atom Builder Thomas Isaac HS Lab
Guided
HW
Chemistry
Build an Atom Lab! Jamie Schoenberger MS Guided
Lab
Chemistry
Student Guide for PhET - Build an Atom in html5 Brian Libby MS
HS
HW
Guided
Chemistry
Investigating Ions Emily Bones HS Guided Chemistry
Build an Atom Student Worksheet Judy Rieke HS
MS
Guided Chemistry
Physics
Preguntas de razonamiento para todas las simulaciones HTML5 A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Diana López MS
HS
UG-Intro
K-5
UG-Adv
Grad
HW
Discuss
Astronomy
Chemistry
Mathematics
Physics
Constitución básica de un átomo A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. Andrés Palomo, Brisa Aguilera y Diana López MS
HS
Guided
HW
Physics
SECUNDARIA: Alineación PhET con programas de la SEP México (2011 y 2017) This contribution was designed by PhET. Diana López MS
HS
Other Biology
Mathematics
Chemistry
Physics
PREPARATORIA: Alineación de PhET con programas de la DGB México (2017) This contribution was designed by PhET. Diana López UG-Intro
HS
Other Chemistry
Mathematics
Physics
ERAIKI ATOMOA jarduerak Andrés Palomo, Brisa Aguilera eta Diana López. Jaione Eizaguirre-ren itzulpena HS HW
Guided
Chemistry
Google quiz - Atoomsoorten - isotopen(notatie) uitleg, spel - Radioactiviteit Loran de Vries MS Remote
Lab
Physics
computeropdracht atoombouw; leren over atoombouw Brechtje Maas MS
HS
HW
Guided
Chemistry
Physics
Enquête au sujet des atomes, des éléments, des ions et des isotopes Lindsay Kidd Grad Guided Chemistry
Moodle et PhetColorado Claude Divoux HS Lab
Guided
MC
Chemistry
Physics
Costruisci un atomo Matteo Matteo MS Guided
Remote
Chemistry
Estudo sobre Átomos Felipe Alves Silveira. Ana Karine Portela Vasconcelos. HS Guided Chemistry
Construcción de átomos Miriam Pujadas HS Guided Chemistry
Construyendo algunos átomos Félix A. Gutiérrez Múzquiz MS Demo Chemistry

Language Download or Run Tips
Albanian All shqip Run now Ndërto një atom
Arabic All العربية Run now بناء ذرة
Basque All Euskara Run now Eraiki atomoa
Belarusian All беларускі Run now Стварыце атам
Bosnian All Bosanski Run now Izgradi atom
Bulgarian All български Run now Изгради атом
Catalan All català Run now Construeix un àtom
Chinese (Simplified) All 中文 (中国) Run now 原子模型
Chinese (Traditional) All 中文 (台灣) Run now Build An Atom_建立一個原子
Croatian All hrvatski Run now Napravi atom
Czech All čeština Run now Stavba atomu
Danish All Dansk Run now Byg et atom
Dutch All Nederlands Run now Bouw een atoom
Estonian All Eesti Run now Ehita aatom
Finnish All suomi Run now Atomien rakentaminen
French All français Run now Construire un atome
Galician All Gallegan Run now Constrúe un átomo
German All Deutsch Run now Bau ein Atom
Greek All Ελληνικά Run now "Κατασκεύασε" ένα άτομο
Hebrew All עברית Run now הרכב אטום
Hungarian All magyar Run now Atomépítés - játékkal
Indonesian All Bahasa Indonesia Run now Buat Atom
Irish All Gaeilge Run now Tóg Adamh
Italian All italiano Run now Costruisci un atomo
Japanese All 日本語 Run now 原子の生成
Kannada All Kannada Run now ಪರಮಾಣು ಸೃಷ್ಟಿಸು
Kazakh All Kazakh Run now Атом құрылысы
Khmer All Khmer Run now បង្កើត​អាតូម
Korean All 한국어 Run now 원자 만들기
Latvian All Latviešu Run now Atoma veidošana
Lithuanian All Lietuvių Run now Sukurk atomą
Macedonian All македонски Run now Направи атом
Maori All Maori Run now Waihangatia he Ngota
Marathi All मराठी Run now अणु बनवा
Moldavian All Moldavian Run now Construieste
Mongolian All Монгол (Монгол) Run now Атом Угсрах
Norwegian Bokmal All Norsk bokmål Run now Bygg et atom
Norwegian Nynorsk All Norwegian Nynorsk Run now Bygg eit atom
Oriya All Oriya Run now ପରମାଣୁ ତିଆରି କର
Pashto All Pushto Run now اټوم جوړ کړئ
Persian All فارسی Run now اتم بسازید
Polish All polski Run now Budujemy atom
Portuguese All português Run now Constrói um átomo
Portuguese (Brazil) All português (Brasil) Run now Monte um Átomo
Russian All русский Run now Строение атома
Serbian All Српски Run now Направи атом
Sinhalese All Sinhalese Run now පරමාණුවක ආකෘතියක් නිර්මාණය කරමු
Slovak All Slovenčina Run now Stavba atómu
Slovenian All Slovenščina Run now Sestavi atom
Spanish All español Run now Construye un Átomo Download teacher tips PDF
Spanish (Mexico) All español (México) Run now Construye un Átomo
Spanish (Peru) All español (Perú) Run now Crear un Átomo
Spanish (Spain) All español (España) Run now Construye un átomo
Swedish All svenska Run now Bygg en atom
Tamil All Tamil Run now அணுவொன்றை கட்டியெழுப்பு
Telugu All Telugu Run now ఒక పరమాణువును నిర్మించు
Thai All ไทย Run now สร้างอะตอม
Tibetan All Tibetan Run now རྡུལ་ཕྲན་ཞིག་བཟོས།
Turkish All Türkçe Run now Atom üretme
Turkmen All Turkmen Run now Atomy ýygna
Ukrainian All українська Run now Будуємо атом Download teacher tips PDF
Urdu All Urdu Run now ایک جوہر کی تعمیر کریں
Vietnamese All Tiếng Việt Run now Tạo dựng một nguyên tử
Welsh All Welsh Run now Adeiladu Atom

HTML5 sims can run on iPads and Chromebooks, as well as PC, Mac, and Linux systems.

iPad:
iOS 12+ Safari
iPad compatible sims

Android:
Not officially supported. If you are using the HTML5 sims on Android, we recommend using the latest version of Google Chrome.

Chromebook:
Latest version of Google Chrome
The HTML5 and Flash PhET sims are supported on all Chromebooks.
Chromebook compatible sims

Windows Systems:
Microsoft Edge, latest version of Firefox, latest version of Google Chrome.

Macintosh Systems:
macOS 10.9.5+, Safari 9+, latest version of Chrome.

Linux Systems:
Not officially supported. Please contact phethelp@colorado.edu with troubleshooting issues.

Design Team Third-party Libraries Thanks To
  • Kelly Lancaster (lead)
  • John Blanco (developer)
  • Sam Reid (developer)
  • Jack Barbera
  • Suzanne Brahmia
  • Julia Chamberlain
  • Yuen-ying Carpenter
  • Patricia Loeblein
  • Emily B. Moore
  • Robert Parson
  • Ariel Paul
  • Kathy Perkins
  • Sharon Siman-Tov
  • almond-0.2.9.js
  • base64-js-1.2.0.js
  • FileSaver-b8054a2.js
  • font-awesome-4.5.0
  • game-up-camera-1.0.0.js
  • himalaya-0.2.7.js
  • jama-1.0.2
  • jquery-2.1.0.js
  • lodash-4.17.4.js
  • pegjs-0.7.0.js
  • seedrandom-2.4.2.js
  • text-2.0.12.js
  • TextEncoderLite-3c9f6f0.js
  • Royal Society of Chemistry