subatomic
adjUK /ˌsʌbəˈtɒmɪk/ · US /ˌsʌbəˈtɑːmɪk/
Etymology From sub- + atomic.
1
Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics Relating to particles that are constituents of the atom, or are smaller than an atom; such as proton, neutron, electron, etc.
- We humans are so stuck in the middle of the cosmic scales — in average height, one-hundredth of one-septillionth (10^-24) the size of the observable universe, and with typical life spans of a couple octillion attoseconds. And an attosecond is an eternity compared with the lifetime of the elusive Higgs boson, a subatomic particle that exists for one-thousandth of an attosecond before decaying.2023 October 9, Dennis Overbye, “The Science Nobel Winners Were Short and Fast”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 12 Oct 2023:
2
Relating to something that is smaller in scale than the diameter of a hydrogen atom.
- The electron microscope is able to resolve detail at the subatomic level.
- Derived terms
- subatomics
- Related terms
- atomic, subatomically, subatomic particle