Today in class, students took part in our Atom Modeling Competition. They competed against their partner building models of atoms within the time allotted. Remember, protons are the easy ones; they are always equal to the atomic number and they go in the nucleus. Electrons are a little trickier; they are also equal to the atomic number (under normal conditions) but they must be placed in the correct shells… 2, 8, 8, 18, 18, etc. Neutrons are tricky as well. They go in the nucleus too, but to find the number of neutrons you must subtract the number of protons from the atomic mass. And always remember, guys, never trust an atom, they make up everything!