[John Chapman (OP)]

When I was at school I was told that atoms comprise mainly empty space. I can’t remember the figures (and I’ve since wasted some time trying to find them on the internet) but the analogy I was given went something like:

”If you magnified atoms of iron until a nucleus was the size of a marble, the next nearest nucleus would be over 100 feet away.”

But, more than that, we now know that neutrons and protons (I have never really understood what electrons are) are themselves made of elementary particles such as quarks which are separated by relatively large amounts of space.

No-one knows what quarks are made of but it may be that they are also particular.

Could it be that matter is simply made from layers are particles which display energetic properties, have no substance and don’t comprise anything more than sub-layers of the same? Could matter simply be a layered lattice of energy? Could this be why matter and energy are interchangeable and why matter can be compressed to a singularity?

Can I have my Nobel Prize now, please?
 

[Chemistry4me]

The electrons orbit the nucleus at such a great distance that 99.99% of the atom is empty space.

http://www.green-planet-solar-energy.com/what-is-an-atom.html

[John Chapman (OP)]

Aha! Exactly. And if it turns out that protons and nutrons are full of empty space then maybe space and energy is all there is!?  []

[Chemistry4me]

All there is to what?

Can you explain this bit again? []

"Could it be that matter is simply made from layers are particles which display energetic properties, have no substance and don’t comprise anything more than sub-layers of the same? Could matter simply be a layered lattice of energy? Could this be why matter and energy are interchangeable and why matter can be compressed to a singularity?"

[lyner]

You would find it easier if you avoided "what it really is" type questions.
Mass is a great concept for explaining and calculating things. If you can assign a Mass to something, it allows you to predict, to some extent, how it will behave.
Mass is not so much a "fraud" as a construct.
If an atom is behaving as if it has an effective radius of r and a Mass of m, then, until you want to look inside it, you can treat it that way.
Once you involve higher energies, you see, first, the electric structure of the atom and then, as your probing energy increases, the nuclear structure and furces. There need be no surprise that finer structure can be revealed by even higher energies. If your singularity and the fields / energy around it manage, between them, respond to applied forces as if there's Mass there then we can call it a Mass.

If it waddles like a duck and quacks like a duck, we can call it a duck. 

[John Chapman (OP)]

Hi SophieC

That answer doesn’t seem to embody this site’s usual spirit of adventure. You seem to be saying ‘if it works, don’t question it’. We might discover we don’t really exist and fizzle out of existence.

I remember when I was about 11 trying to figure out how we manage to walk. After a while I became so self conscious about where I should put my legs that when I tried to walk again it was like I was pissed. My Mum didn’t believe I’d forgotten how to walk by thinking about it too much! I was a bit of a strange kid.

Anyway, back to the existence of matter. I was sort of hoping that I could have the flash of brilliance and then pass the idea onto the physisissycists like you to work out the details. I’ll happily mention you in my Nobel acceptance speech.
 

[lyner]

I am not saying "don't question it". I am just saying that the word 'fraud' is not appropriate. Mass 'works' because it explains what goes on. It is not a trick - it's just like all Science. It is pragmatic use of a term which aplied all over the place.
If what you are asking for is an explanation of what it is that causes us to see things behaving as masses, then that is a different matter.
The "spirit of adventure"  you talk of is alive and well. ~It's just that the adventures tend to be rather more subtle than
"SHOCK HORROR - MASS NO LONGER EXISTS!!!!"
It is very likely that someone will come up with a good explanation which holds water and which unifies many of our present ideas but you can bet your bottom dollar that anyone bright enough to do it won't be in the business of rubbishing a useful concept.
If you drop a hammer on your toe, you will soon enough acknowledge the existence of Mass. []

[Nizzle]

In my opinion, everything is energy with a certain frequency and amplitude.

Mass is a grouping for all forms of energy that interact with the Higgs field.

Examples:
an electron is a form of energy that reacts with the Higgs field.
a photon is a form of energy that does not react with the Higgs field.