Matter

Atom

Main article: Atom

A diagram of an atom based on the Rutherford model

The atom is the basic unit of chemistry. It consists of a dense core called the atomic nucleus surrounded by a space called the electron cloud. The nucleus is made up of positively charged protons and neutral neutrons, while the electron cloud consists of negatively-charged electrons which orbit the nucleus to balance out the positive charge of the protons.
The atom is also the smallest entity that can be envisaged to retain the chemical properties of the element, such as electronegativity, ionization potential, preferred oxidation state(s), coordination number, and preferred types of bonds to form (e.g., metallic, ionic, covalent).