What evolved over this period was a broader and more detailed picture of how atoms and molecules behave.

But you'll notice that none of our choices have any effect whatever on the way that atoms and molecules behave.

One mistake many people here are making is assuming that, even if atoms behaved in a perfectly classical way, you can stop them.

Each individual atom in the star will behave like that rocket, or cannonball.

Elementary particles, atomic nuclei, atoms, and even molecules behave in some context as matter waves.

In these conditions, atoms behave quite differently and lines can form which are suppressed at normal densities.

However, some atoms in some states behave such that they are repelled by magnetic fields.

Moreover, under certain circumstances, an atom can behave something like a wave of light.

Thus the atoms behave like a filter that forms a series of dark absorption bands in the energy output.

Fundamentally, the student's question is not answerable in the sense that atoms do not behave like macroscopic objects.