Talk:Exotic atom
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Would an exciton count as an "exotic atom"? It looks like it might to me, but I'm no expert in these matters. Bryan Derksen
[edit] defn of atom?
Don't really know how to fix this, but it seems to me that some (all?) molecules are also systems of particles held together primarily by electric forces. On the atom page, the defn is made by being the smallest constituent with given chemical properties, but this is probably not a good definition for exotic atoms?
The definition given is plain wrong. The particles within an atom are not held together by the electromagnetic force. As a matter of fact, since particles in the nucleus of an atom have the same charge, the electromagnetic force would would tear atoms apart, not hold them together. Atoms are held together by the strong-nuclear force. Molecules, on the other hand, *are* held together by the electromagnetic force, but this is largely irrelevant to this article. I removed the definition altogether as I deemed it unnecessary; it made the sentence hard to read and if the reader is unaware of what an atom is 1) the definition given wouldn't have made it easier and 2) the reader can click on atom and read the wikipedia page on atoms.