In chemistry, composed of or containing different types of atoms; not homoatomic.
From Greek hetero- (different) + atomic (relating to atoms). This is a modern scientific term combining classical and modern roots to describe molecular composition.
Heteratomic molecules are more interesting than they sound—most of chemistry is heteratomic (water, salt, DNA), so when scientists find truly homoatomic molecules like O₂ or N₂, they're actually the exception, not the rule, which reveals how fundamentally important chemical diversity is to creating the world we know.
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