Buddha Abhidhamma - Ultimate Science - BuddhaNet

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Of the five sense organs, the eye and the ear cognize
distant objects without any direct contact. We can see
a flower without the flower coming in contact with the
eye. We can hear what a man says without the man
coming in contact with the ear.
On the other hand, the smell must come in contact
with the nostril, the taste must directly touch the tongue,
and something must actually touch the body in order
to cognize these senses.
Thus, cakkhu-pasàda and sota-pasàda are called
asampatta-gàhaka whereas the remaining three pasàdaråpas
are called sampatta-gàhaka.
9 Avinibbhoga-råpa – The eight råpas comprising pathavã,
àpo, tejo, vàyo, vaõõa, gandhà, rasa and ojà are bound together
and are inseparable and indivisible. So they are
called avinibbhoga-råpas whereas the rest are called
vinibbhoga-råpas.
The definition of ‘avinibbhoga-råpa’ sounds like the
original definition of the ‘atom’. But atoms are later found
to be divisible into electrons, protons and neutrons.
According to Abhidhamma, these sub-atomic
particles can be regarded as avinibbhoga-råpas. The four
essentials and their innate four derivatives are produced
together in nature as kalàpas which are fundamental
units of matter.
These kalàpas have about the same size as electrons.
So, however small a particle may be, it is always made
up of the avinibbhoga-råpas which are really invisible
and inseparable.