Nucleo's Tiny Kingdom

[whisper] Shhh... come closer Closer... closerrrr... Do you see me? I'm very very very very small

I'm Nucleo The heart of every atom I'm the teeniest tiniest kingdom you ever saw

How small am I? If your atom were a stadium — big big BIG with a hundred thousand seats — I'd be a marble A tiny little marble sitting riiiiight in the middle of the field

Tiny tiny TINY — but I hold it ALL! Tiny tiny TINY — but I hold it ALL!

[building now] Don't let my size fool you! I'm small but I'm DENSE I'm PACKED so tight nothing else comes close!

Proto lives in me — (hey Proto!) Neutro lives in me — (hey Neutro!) Squeezed together, side by side in the tiniest little house

And who keeps us together? Who holds us safe and tight? STRONGY! [boom] The strongest force there is! Strongy hugs us with all his might!

Tiny tiny TINY — but I hold it ALL! Tiny tiny TINY — but I hold it ALL!

[roaring now] See, Proto wants to push away — Electromago says "REPEL!" All those plus-plus-pluses pushing pushing pushing — it's a tiny tiny battle in my shell!

But Strongy's STRONGER! Strongy WINS! He grabs Proto and Neutro and he holds them IN!

Where's the weight? It's in ME! Almost ALL of it! Can't you see?

Electra way out there? [whoooosh] She's light as a feather — barely there! But me? I've got the MASS! Ninety-nine point nine percent is RIGHT HERE in Nucleo's tiny tiny tiny tiny kingdom!

Tiny tiny TINY — but I hold it ALL! Tiny tiny TINY — but I hold it ALL!

[whisper again] I may be small The smallest thing you'll find But every bit of weight you feel? That's my kingdom That's MY kingdom

[ROAR] TINY TINY TINY — BUT I HOLD IT ALL!

[whisper] ...told you I was dense

Key Concepts: The nucleus is ~100,000× smaller than the atom | Contains 99.95% of the atom's mass | Protons and neutrons packed incredibly dense | Strong force (Strongy) overcomes electromagnetic repulsion to hold nucleus together | Electrons (Electra) orbit far outside and are nearly massless