Final answer:
The nucleus of the atom is significantly smaller in size compared to the entire atom. If an atom were the size of a soccer field, the nucleus would be akin to the size of a pea at the center, illustrating the vast difference in scale.
Step-by-step explanation:
Compared to the entire atom, the nucleus of the atom is smaller in size. The nucleus of an atom, consisting of protons and neutrons, is exceedingly small when compared to the atom as a whole. To visualize their sizes, we can imagine an atom on a scale of something large and familiar. For instance, if an atom were scaled up to the size of a soccer field, the nucleus would be comparable to a pea located at the center of the field. An atom's diameter is about 10-10 meters, while a nucleus's diameter is approximately 10-15 meters, which is about 100,000 times smaller than the atom itself.
Despite its tiny size, the nuclear atom contains the majority of an atom's mass. The nucleus is extraordinarily dense, with a massive amount of weight packed into a minuscule volume. Electrons, which have very little mass, occupy most of the space in an atom, creating an electron cloud around the nucleus. This means that most of an atom is actually empty space, making the nucleus very small in comparison to the atom as a whole.