atomic structure

Learning Outcome ( 2) : Demonstrate understanding of atomic structure,

subatomic particles, their arrangements and the evidence that scientists that
enabled scientists to discover them.

Key Concepts:
 Atoms

 Elements

 Protons

 Atomic Number

 relative mass number

 Electrons

 Neutrons

 isobar

 isotons

===================================================================

What are atoms?

the smallest, representative part of an element.

Atoms are the basic building units of matter that make up everyday objects. A
desk, the air, even you are made up of atoms!

There are 92 naturally occurring kinds of atoms. Scientists in labs have been able
to make about 25 more.
A SIMPLE VIEW OF ATOMIC STRUCTURE
The sub-atomic particles

Protons, neutrons and electrons.

relative mass relative charge

proton 1 +1
neutron 1 0
electron 1/1836 -1
The behavior of protons, neutrons and electrons in electric fields

What happens if a beam of each of these particles is passed between two electrically
charged plates - one positive and one negative?

Opposites will attract.

Protons are positively charged and so would be deflected on a curving path towards the
negative plate.

Electrons are negatively charged and so would be deflected on a curving path towards the
positive plate.

Neutrons don't have a charge, and so would continue on in a straight line.

If beams of the three sorts of particles, all with the same energy, are passed between two
electrically charged plates:

 Protons are deflected on a curved path towards the negative plate.

 Electrons are deflected on a curved path towards the positive plate.

The amount of deflection is exactly the same in the electron beam as the proton
beam if the energies are the same - but, of course, it is in the opposite direction.

 Neutrons continue in a straight line.

Thomson Atom:
Thomson uses cathode rays tube ( CRT ) to discover electrons, a small 
. piece of Dalton's atoms


He determines that cathode rays are streams of electrons with negative 
. charge using electric plates to deflect stream

The electrons

Atoms are electrically neutral, and the positive charge of the protons is balanced by the
negative charge of the electrons. It follows that in a neutral atom:

no. of electrons = no. of protons

So, if an oxygen atom (atomic number = 8) has 8 protons, it must also have 8 electrons; if a
chlorine atom (atomic number = 17) has 17 protons, it must also have 17 electrons.

The arrangement of the electrons

The electrons are found at considerable distances from the nucleus in a series of levels
called energy levels. Each energy level can only hold a certain number of electrons. The
first level (nearest the nucleus) will only hold 2 electrons, the second holds 8, and the third
also seems to be full when it has 8 electrons.

Electrons will always go into the lowest possible energy level (nearest the nucleus) -
provided there is space.

 Rutherford experiment:
  Rutherford in 1911 perform his gold foil experiment in which he
demonstrated that the atom has a tiny, massive nucleus.
 By the turn of the 20th century, physicists knew that certain elements
emitted fast moving particles, alpha and beta particles. These elements
were very heavy , such as uranium and radium. heavy nuclei are unstable
and `decay', and emit particles.

The alpha particle was heavy and positively charged, we now know that it is the
helium nuclei .

 He was observed the following:

 most alpha particles pass straight through the gold foil.
 a few were scattered at large angles.
 some even bounced back toward the source.

only a positively charged and relatively heavy target particle, such as the
proposed nucleus,

 results can best explained by a model for the atom as:

  a tiny, dense, positively charged core called a nucleus, in which nearly all
the mass is concentrated, around which the light, negative electrons,
circulate at some distance, much like planets revolving around the Sun

The nucleus

The nucleus is at the center of the atom and contains the protons and neutrons. Protons
and neutrons are known as nucleons.

Virtually all the mass of the atom is concentrated in the nucleus, because the electrons
weight so little.

Working out the numbers of protons and neutrons

No of protons = ATOMIC NUMBER of the atom

The atomic number is also given the more descriptive name of proton number.

No of protons + no of neutrons = MASS NUMBER of the atom

The mass number is also called the nucleon number.

This information can be given simply in the form:

How many protons and neutrons has this atom got?

The atomic number counts the number of protons (9); the mass number counts protons +
neutrons (19). If there are 9 protons, there must be 10 neutrons for the total to add up to
19.

The  neutron: is a subatomic particle, symbol n or n0, with zero electric

charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton. Protons and neutrons,
each with mass approximately one atomic mass unit, constitute the nucleus of
an atom, and they are collectively referred to as nucleons.
Relative atomic mass: is the ratio of the average mass of atoms of an element (from a
single given sample or source) to 1⁄12 of the mass of an atom of carbon-12 . 

How do you calculate relative atomic mass?

  Example 1: Calculating the relative atomic mass of bromine    and

o bromine consists of two isotopes, 50% 79Br and 50% 81Br, calculate the Ar of

bromine from the mass numbers.
o Ar = [ (50 x 79) + (50 x 81) ] /100 = 80
o So, the relative atomic mass of bromine is 80 .

 RAM or Ar(Br) = 80

 Example 2 : Calculating the relative atomic mass of chlorine     and

o chlorine consists of two isotopes, 75% chlorine-35 and 25% chlorine-37, so

using these two mass numbers ...
o The average mass = [ (75 x 35) + (25 x 37) ] / 100 = 35.5
o So the relative atomic mass of chlorine is 35.5 .
o  RAM or Ar(Cl) = 35.5

Isotopes

The number of neutrons in an atom can vary within small limits. For example, there are
three kinds of carbon atom 12C, 13C and14C. They all have the same number of protons, but
the number of neutrons varies.

protons neutrons mass number

carbon-12 6 6 12
carbon-13 6 7 13
carbon-14 6 8 14
These different atoms of carbon are called isotopes. The fact that they have varying
numbers of neutrons makes no difference whatsoever to the chemical reactions of the
carbon.

Isotopes are atoms which have the same atomic number but different mass numbers.
They have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons.
Element: any material that cannot be broken down into simpler materials.

Or Element is a chemical substance consisting of atoms having the same number

of protons in their atomic nuclei (the same atomic number)

There are 118 elements that have been identified, of which the first 92 occur
naturally on Earth with the remaining being synthetic elements. There are 80
elements that have at least one stable isotope and 38 that have exclusively
radioactive isotopes, which decay over time into other elements. Iron is the most
abundant element (by mass) making up the Earth, while oxygen is the most
common element in the crust of the earth.

Atomic number

The atomic number of an element is equal to the number of protons in each atom,
and defines the element.

For example, all carbon atoms contain 6 protons in their atomic nucleus; so the
atomic number of carbon is 6. Carbon atoms may have different numbers of
neutrons; atoms of the same element having different numbers of neutrons are
known as isotopes of the element.

Isobars:

Isobars are atoms (nuclides) of different chemical elements that have the same

number of nucleons. Correspondingly, isobars differ in atomic number (or number
of protons) but have the same mass number. An example of a series of isobars
would be 40S, 40Cl, 40Ar, 40K, and 40Ca. The nuclei of these nuclides all contain
40 nucleons; however, they contain varying numbers of protons and neutrons.

Isotone:

Isotone, any of two or more species of atoms or nuclei that have the same number
of neutrons. Thus, chlorine-37 and potassium-39 are isotones,

Because the nucleus of this species of chlorine consists of 17 protons and 20

neutrons, whereas the nucleus of this species of potassium contains 19 protons and
20 neutrons.