Final answer:
Atoms are the smallest units of matter that make up all elements. They can only be seen using powerful microscopes, not binoculars or telescopes. Elements consist of identical atoms that differ from those of other elements in size, mass, and other properties.
Step-by-step explanation:
The most accurate description of atoms among the options provided is that atoms make up all matter and can only be seen using magnification. Atoms are incredibly tiny building blocks of matter, too small to be seen with binoculars or telescopes. Individual atoms can only be observed with the aid of powerful microscopes, such as scanning tunneling microscopes, because their sizes are on the nanometer scale—a billionth of a meter.
Elements are pure substances made up of atoms, and all atoms of a given element are identical in size, mass, and other properties. Atoms of different elements vary in size, mass, and other characteristics. The concept that atoms could not be subdivided was revised with the discovery of subatomic particles—protons, neutrons, and electrons—though atoms remain the smallest units that retain the chemical properties of an element.