ATOMS AND THE

ATOMIC THEORY
UNIT 2
Law of Conservation of Mass

In 1774, Antoine Lavoisier (1743 1794) performed an experiment

in which he heated a sealed glass vessel containing a sample of
tin and some air. He found that the mass before heating and
after heating were the same.

«The total mass of substances present after a

chemical reaction is the same as the total
mass of substances before the reaction.»
Example

A 0.455 g sample of magnesium is allowed to burn in 2.315 g of

oxygen gas. The sole product is magnesium oxide. After the
reaction, no magnesium remains and the mass of unreacted
oxygen is 2.015 g. What mass of magnesium oxide is produced?
Law of Constant Composition

In 1799, Joseph Proust (1754 1826) reported law of constant

composition, or the law of definite proportions.

«All samples of a compound have the same

composition the same proportions by mass of
the constituent elements.»
Example

We found in the previous example that when 0.455 g of

magnesium reacted with 2.315 g of oxygen, 0.755 g of
magnesium oxide was obtained. Determine the mass of
magnesium contained in a 0.500 g sample of magnesium oxide.
From Greek Times…

 First “atomic theorists” (Fifth-century BC):

– Democritus

■ If you could look at matter on smaller and smaller

scales ultimately you would see atoms. Atoms
were objects that couldn’t be divided further.

■ Atom uncuttable
First Elemental Discoveries

Galileo (1564-1642): atoms were infinitely small

Newton (1642-1727): First one to mention the “electrical

attraction”.
Dalton’s Model

■ The first convincing argument for atoms  John Dalton

• In 1808 John Dalton published the first formal work on the

atom in his book “A New System of Chemical Philosophy”.

• Dalton pictured atoms as indestructible spheres like billiard

balls.  BILLIARD BALL MODEL
Dalton’s Model

■ 4 postulates:
- Elements are made up of discrete, indivisible, and
indestructible particles called atoms.
- Atoms of the same element have the same properties. Atoms
of different elements have different properties.
- Atoms of the same element can unit in more than one ratio
with another element to form more than one compound.
- Chemical combination between two or more atoms occur in
simple, numerical ratios (i.e., 1 to ; 2 to 3….)
Dalton’s Model

According to Dalton:
ATOMS WERE HARD SPHERES

BUT
HE HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR INNER STRUCTURE!
The Discovery of the First
Subatomic Particle
■ J.J. Thomson
■ The earliest experimental evidence for the existence of an
internal structure of atoms.

■ What did he do?

1) the ratio of the charge to the mass of the electron. The charge
of an electron (cathode ray tube experiment)
2) Plum pudding model
J.J. Thomson :
Cathode ray tube experiment
■ Due to the design of the experiment, he wasn't able to obtain
either the mass or the charge of the electron alone, but he
was able to obtain the ratio of the charge to the mass of the
electron .

■ Robert Millikan measured the charge on the electron oil

drop experiment
J.J. Thomson :
Plum pudding model
■ Plum Pudding Model
a sphere of positive charge with negatively charged electrons
spread through it.

Positive pudding – Negative electron plums

Rutherford’s Model

Ernest Rutherford discovered (1911) the atom had a nucleus

surrounded by electrons. Suggested that most of the mass of the
atom was contained in the small nucleus, and that the rest of the
atom was mostly empty space.

He also discovered the proton (1919).

Rutherford’s Model

The Gold Foil Experiment- The Rutherford Scattering Experiment

■ What did Rutherford conclude from this experiment?
■ What was the evidence?

1)Since most of the particles went straight through, the volume of

the atom must be largely empty space.
2)Since some alpha particles were deflected and repelled, each
atom must contain a positively charged massive body.

3) This massive body is called the nucleus

4) The electrons must be outside this nucleus and surround it.
http://www.wwnorton.com/college/chemistry/gilbert/tutorials/c
h3.htm
Rutherford’s Solar System
Model
Rutherford’s Model vs
Thomson’s Model
Bohr’s Model

Bohr proposed a model for the hydrogen atom that was

consistent with Rutherford’s model and yet also explained the
spectrum of the hydrogen atom.

■ The Bohr model was based on the following assumptions

Bohr’s Model

 The electron in a hydrogen atom travels around the nucleus.

 The energy of the electron in an orbit is proportional to its

distance from the nucleus. The further the electron is from
the nucleus , the more energy it has.

 Only limited number of orbits with certain energies are

allowed. In other words, the orbits are quantized.

 Light is absorbed when an electron jumps to a higher energy

orbit and emitted when an electron falls into a lower energy
orbit.
Bohr’s Model
What is wrong with the Bohr
model?
■ It could not explain the spectra of atoms with more than one
electron.
■ There is no way to observe or to measure the orbit of an
electron in an atom.
■ The position and momentum of a moving object can not
simultaneously be measured and known exactly.

Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle

The Discovery of the Neutron

• James Chadwick(Rutherford’s assistant).

– discovered the neutron using Beryllium
Rays (1932).
– discovery of neutron was essential to
the development of the atomic bomb.
Atomic theory of matter

■ A proton is the nuclear particle having a positive charge equal

to that of the electron’s (a “unit” charge) and a mass more
than 1800 times that of the electron. It is for this reason that
we refer to H as a pure proton.
■ The number of protons in the nucleus of an atom is referred
to as its atomic number (Z) and gives the identity of an
element. All species that have same #p have the same
properties.
Atomic theory of matter

neutral species: #p = #e- H Z=1 1p, 1e-

Na Z=11 11p, 11e- Cl Z=17 17p, 17e-
-
Na+ Z=11 11p, 10e- Cl Z=17 17p, 18e-

+ charge, more p than e-

- charge, more e- than p

#p remains constant in species;

#e- can vary and dictates the charge of species
 Atomic theory of matter

The atoms may have different masses because of different

#neutrons (isotopes).

particle mass, kg charge, C relative location

charge
electron, e- 9.109 x 10-31 -1.602 x 10-19 -1 outside
nucleus
proton, p 1.6726 x 10-27 1.602 x 10-19 +1 nucleus
neutron, n 1.6749 x 10-27 0 0 nucleus
■ The mass number (A) is the total number of protons and
neutrons in a nucleus.

A = #p + #n = Z + #n

How many neutrons does sodium 23 have?

A = 23, Z = 11 (number on periodic table)

A = Z + #n 23 = 11 + #n #n = 23 - 11 = 12
A nuclide is an atom characterized by a definite atomic
number and mass number.
The shorthand notation for a nuclide consists of its symbol
with the atomic number, Z, as a subscript on the left and its
mass number, A, as a superscript on the left.

A
Z E
sodium  23 23 23 +
11 Na 11 Na
11p, 12 n, 11e- 11p, 12 n, 10e-
 ATOMIC
STRUCTURE AND
PERIODICITY
The Quantum Mechanical
Model of the Atom
■ Mid-1920s  it was apparent that the Bohr model could not
be made to work.
■ A new approach Werner Heisenberg (1901–1976), Louis de
Broglie (1892–1987), and Erwin Schrödinger (1887–1961).
■ The electron, previously considered to be a particle, also
shows wave properties.
■ The approach wave mechanics or, more commonly,
quantum mechanics.
Quantum model of the atom

• Louis de Broglie (1924)

Applied wave-particle theory to electrons
Electrons exhibit wave properties
• Werner Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle
– Impossible to know both the velocity and position of an
electron at the same time
• Erwin Schrödinger’s Wave Equation (1926)
– wavefunctions

Our current model of

hydrogen was proposed
by Schrodinger.
Quantum Mechanics

Describes the arrangement and space occupied by electrons in

atoms

The quantum-mechanical model

allows only specific energies for the
electron.
NOT orbitting around the nucleus: the
quantum-mechanical electron's location
is known only through a probability map.
Uncertainty Principle
Map Of Probability-orbital
■ In the quantum-mechanical
model the electron's
movement cannot be
known that precisely.
■ We can only estimate its
position and momentum 
there is a probability of
finding the electron.
■ We map the probability of
finding the electron at
various locations outside
the nucleus.
■ This probability map
(electron density map) 
orbital.
Quantum Numbers

The positions of the electrons in relation to the nucleus are

described by their quantum numbers.
■ Shell principle quantum number n
■ Subshellangular quantum number l
■ Orbital magnetic quantum number  ml
■ Spin ms
Principle Quantum Number

n (quantum number) The principle energy levels (shells) in an

atom
n indicates the distance from the nucleus (size of the orbitals)
The energy of electron increases as n increases
The principal quantum number (n) has integral values: 1, 2, 3, . . .
. The principal quantum number is related to the size and energy
of the orbital. As n increases, the orbital becomes larger and the
electron spends more time farther from the nucleus. An increase
in n also means higher energy, because the electron is less tightly
bound to the nucleus, and the energy is less negative.
Angular Momentum Quantum
Number (l)
■ (l 􏰪 )  it has integral values from 0 to n 􏰪 - 1 for each
value of n.
■ This quantum number is related to the shape of atomic
orbitals.
Magnetic Quantum Number
(ml)
The value of ml􏰪 is related to the orientation of the orbital in
space relative to the other orbitals in the atom.
(ml􏰪 )  it has integral values between 􏰪 l and -l 􏰪 􏰪 ,
including zero.
 Energy Levels, Sublevels and
Orbitals
Principle energy Sublevel Orbitals
level (n)
n=1 1s 1s (one)

n=2 2s, 2p 2s(one)+2p(three)

n=3 3s,3p,3d 3s(one)+3p(three)+3

d(five)
n=4 4s,4p,4d,4f 4s(one)+4p(three)4d
(five)+4f(seven)
s- orbitals

■ The spheres here represent the boundary surfaces of the s-

orbitals in the first three energy levels.
■ The 2s orbital is similar to the 1s orbital, but larger in size.
■ The phrase "larger in size" really means that the maximum probability for
finding the electron lies farther out from the nucleus.
p- orbitals

The boundary surface of a p-orbital has two lobes; the nucleus

lies on the plane that divides the two lobes.
There are three p-orbitals of a given energy, and they lie along
three perpendicular axes.
They are labelled according to the axis of the xyz coordinate
system along which the lobes lie.
d-orbitals

The boundary surface of a d-orbital is more complicated than

that of an s- or a p-orbital.
There are five d-orbitals of a given energy; four of them have four
lobes; one is slightly different.
f-orbitals

The boundary surface of one of the seven f-orbitals of a shell

(with n ≥ 4). The f-orbitals have a complex appearance.
Their existence is important for understanding the periodic table.
Pauli Exclusion Principle

Each orbital can hold TWO electrons with opposite spins.

Aufbau Principle

Electrons fill the lowest energy orbitals first.

n l ml ms max #
of e
1 0 0 +-1/2 2
2 0 0 +-1/2 2 8

1 -1,0,1 +-1/2(for each) 6

3 0 0 +-1/2 2
18
1 -1,0,1 +-1/2(for each) 6
2 -2,-1,0,1,2 +-1/2 (for each) 10
4 0 0 +-1/2 2
1 -1,0,1 +-1/2(for each) 6 32
2 -2,-1,0,1,2 +-1/2(for each) 10
3 -3,-2,1,0,1,2,3 +-1/2(for each) 14
Back to Aufbau Principle
Hund’s Rule

Within a sublevel, place one e- per orbital before pairing them.

WRONG RIGHT