Atom the nucleus defines to what chemical element the atom belongs: for example, all copper atoms contain 29 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. The idea that matter is made up of discrete units is a very old
Atom economy Atom economy Atom economy (atom efficiency) is the conversion efficiency of a chemical process in terms of all atoms involved and the desired products produced. Atom economy is an important concept of green chemistry philosophy, and one of the most widely used metrics for measuring the "greenness" of a process or synthesis. Atom economy can be written as: For a Multi step process, where the intermediates are formed in one step and consumed during a later step % Atom Economy = Mol Weight (G)/ (Mol Wt (A + B+ D + F) Atom economy is a different concern than chemical