why are there many elements

#question #thought #physics
analogous to why are there many species

• presumably, certain atoms are "better" in the sense of being lower energy configurations
• and yet, we have many different kinds of atoms
  • is this because of the between atom interactions?
  • that is, having many atoms lets you have more "ecosystems" (molecules, compounds), which make the atoms happier, than if they were all just individual atoms in the minimal atom state?
    • analogous to how there's many species because diverse ecosystems can support more complex interactions