system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
How do you get different elemental properties from slight variations in the amount of electrons orbiting an atomic nucleus?

I never intuitively understood how you go from atoms to the actual elements, with all of their specific properties. How can the amounts of electrons in an atom determine the color, shape, conductivity, fluidity, etc. of an element?
gpt
The electrons are the outer shell of an atom, and other than nuclear forces, the main thing that interacts with other atoms. Based on how many electrons make up the outer shell determines how many electrons it tries to interact with other atoms to get to a stable configuration.  How many holes it has to fill will determine how reactive it is to rip up other chemical bonds and create new ones, or how much energy needs to be added to make that happen.

Color is going to be determined by molecule size (or clusters)  compared to visible light. That size will be determined by the attraction of the electrons to the nucleus, and the electron pairings shared.