MCQ Detailed View

Atoms are very small units of matter, and they are built from even smaller particles known as subatomic particles. In basic chemistry, we often study three main subatomic particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons. Protons are positively charged and located in the nucleus, neutrons have no charge and are also in the nucleus, while electrons are negatively charged and move around the nucleus in energy shells. These three particles explain most of the chemical behavior of elements.

However, modern physics and advanced research have shown that there are actually more than three subatomic particles inside an atom. Protons and neutrons themselves are not fundamental particles; they are made up of even smaller particles called quarks. Quarks are held together by particles known as gluons. Electrons belong to another family of particles called leptons. In addition, many other particles such as neutrinos, mesons, and bosons also exist and play important roles in atomic and nuclear processes.

This means that the structure of matter is much more complex than the simple three-particle model. The “proton, neutron, electron” model is useful for understanding chemistry, but in particle physics, scientists have discovered a large number of subatomic particles through experiments in particle accelerators.

Looking at the given options:

• 
  

  Option 1 (two particles) is incorrect.

  
  


• 
  

  Option 2 (three particles) is correct in basic chemistry but incomplete in modern science.

  
  


• 
  

  Option 3 (one particle) is wrong.

  
  


• 
  

  Option 4 (more than three) is the most accurate because modern science recognizes many subatomic particles beyond the basic three.

  
  

Therefore, the correct answer is more than three, since atoms are made of a variety of fundamental particles discovered in modern physics.