Is there a word or term for deconstructing something so much that it becomes unrecognizable? or breaking something down so far that it cannot be built back up again?
To give an example, I sometimes think of the atom, which is "the smallest constituent unit of matter".
If you break something down past the atomic level, it becomes ___.
The context I would use this term would be more figurative or linguistic than scientific.
EDIT: I think by giving the scientific example above, I'm giving people the wrong impression.
To give another example:
if you take a house made of lego blocks and decontruct it down to each individual lego block, you can still sort of "see" the house, and it is still able to be rebuilt. But if you then start cutting up or melting down the lego blocks then the essence of the house is lost and you can no longer rebuilt it again.
I'm looking for a term that describes this process.
I believe I've heard a term for this before, though I may be mistaken. I may just need to settle for one of the answers already given (dissolves seems to be closest to the idea I'm trying to describe).