The difference between ordinary atoms and ions is expressed in symbols.

(Protons and neutrons, the particles that make up the nuclei of ordinary atoms, contain three quarks.)

These would not be ordinary atoms, but a different kind of stuff altogether, left over from the big bang.

In an ordinary atom, the number of electrons equals the number of protons.

My guess is that the Phi-beings are constituted of units smaller than ordinary atoms, much smaller.

According to what has recently become a highly celebrated "standard model," ordinary atoms make up only 5 percent of the "stuff" of the cosmos.

The muon was the first elementary particle discovered that does not appear in ordinary atoms.

"you can't say it's made of ordinary atoms, can you?"

The rest are ordinary neutral atoms.

In addition, atomic orbitals do not closely resemble a planet's elliptical path in ordinary atoms.