Credit: ExtremeTech Carbon normally has six protons and six neutrons in its nucleus, giving it an atomic ... to flake away along planes. A single-atom-thick layer of graphite is also known as ...

The carbon atom and hydrogen atoms are close together. The electrons from each atom feels the attraction from the proton in the nucleus of the other atom. This attraction pulls the atoms together and ...

But what makes oxygen different from carbon? It is the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom that is the defining feature of the atom. It's what makes one element different from another.

The picture shows a close-up of one carbon atom. A hydrogen atom has one proton as the nucleus and one electron in the region outside the nucleus. The electron and proton are attracted to each other.

Most of an atom's mass is packed into its tiny nucleus, which contains protons ... In the heaviest element examined—carbon-12, which has 12 nucleons—the three-nucleon force caused the energy ...