Atom

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search
For other uses, see Atom (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Atum.

Atom

An illustration of the helium atom, depicting the nucleus(pink) and

the electron cloud distribution (black). The nucleus (upper right) in

helium-4 is in reality spherically symmetric and closely resembles the

electron cloud, although for more complicated nuclei this is not always

the case. The black bar is one angstrom (10−10 m or 100 pm).

Classification

Smallest recognized division of a chemical element

Properties

Mass range 1.67×10−27 to 4.52×10−25 kg

 Electric charge zero (neutral), or ion charge

Diameterrange 62 pm (He) to 520 pm (Cs) (data page)

Components Electrons and a

compact nucleus of protons and neutrons

An atom is the smallest unit of ordinary matter that forms a chemical element.

[1]
 Every solid, liquid, gas, and plasma is composed of neutral or ionized atoms.
Atoms are extremely small, typically around 100 picometers across. They are so
small that accurately predicting their behavior using classical physics—as if they
were tennis balls, for example—is not possible due to quantum effects.
Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the
nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons.
Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons. More than 99.94% of
an atom's mass is in the nucleus. The protons have a positive electric charge, the
electrons have a negative electric charge, and the neutrons have no electric charge.
If the number of protons and electrons are equal, then the atom is electrically neutral.
If an atom has more or fewer electrons than protons, then it has an overall negative
or positive charge, respectively – such atoms are called ions.
The electrons of an atom are attracted to the protons in an atomic nucleus by
the electromagnetic force. The protons and neutrons in the nucleus are attracted to
each other by the nuclear force. This force is usually stronger than the
electromagnetic force that repels the positively charged protons from one another.
Under certain circumstances, the repelling electromagnetic force becomes stronger
than the nuclear force. In this case, the nucleus splits and leaves behind different
elements. This is a form of nuclear decay.
The number of protons in the nucleus is the atomic number and it defines to which
chemical element the atom belongs. For example, any atom that contains 29 protons
is copper. The number of neutrons defines the isotope of the element. For example,
a copper atom with 34 neutrons is copper-63 (29+34), and with 36 neutrons is
copper-65; natural copper is about 70% Cu-63 and the rest is Cu-65. 
Atoms can attach to one or more other atoms by chemical bonds to form chemical
compounds such as molecules or crystals. For example, New York City's Statue of
Liberty was originally made of pure copper, but over the years, the surface combined
with oxygen, carbon and sulfur atoms to make a green patina on the copper. The
ability of atoms to attach and detach is responsible for most of the physical changes
observed in nature. Chemistry is the discipline that studies these changes.

Contents

 1History of atomic theory

o 1.1In philosophy

o 1.2Dalton's law of multiple proportions

 o 1.3Kinetic theory of gases

o 1.4Brownian motion

o 1.5Discovery of the electron

o 1.6Discovery of the nucleus

o 1.7Discovery of isotopes

o 1.8Bohr model

o 1.9The Schrödinger model

o 1.10Discovery of the neutron

o 1.11Fission, high-energy physics and condensed matter

 2Structure

o 2.1Subatomic particles

o 2.2Nucleus

o 2.3Electron cloud

 3Properties

o 3.1Nuclear properties

o 3.2Mass

o 3.3Shape and size

o 3.4Radioactive decay

o 3.5Magnetic moment

o 3.6Energy levels

o 3.7Valence and bonding behavior

o 3.8States

 4Identification

 5Origin and current state

o 5.1Formation

o 5.2Earth
 o 5.3Rare and theoretical forms

 5.3.1Superheavy elements

 5.3.2Exotic matter

 6See also

 7Notes

 8References

 9Bibliography

 10Further reading

 11External links

History of atomic theory

Main article: Atomic theory
In philosophy
Main article: Atomism
See also: Prima materia
The basic idea that matter is made up of tiny, indivisible particles appears in many
ancient cultures such as those of Greece and India. The word atom is derived from
the ancient Greek word atomos (a combination of the negative term "a-" and "τομή,"
the term for "cut") that means "uncuttable". This ancient idea was based in
philosophical reasoning rather than scientific reasoning; modern atomic theory is not
based on these old concepts. Nonetheless, the term "atom" was used throughout the
ages by thinkers who suspected that matter was ultimately granular in nature.[2][3] It
has since been discovered that "atoms" can be split, but the misnomer is still used.
Dalton's law of multiple proportions

Atoms and molecules as depicted in John Dalton's A New System of Chemical Philosophy vol. 1 (1808)
In the early 1800s, the English chemist John Dalton compiled experimental data
gathered by himself and other scientists and discovered a pattern now known as the
"law of multiple proportions". He noticed that in chemical compounds which contain a
particular chemical element, the content of that element in these compounds will
differ by ratios of small whole numbers. This pattern suggested to Dalton that each
chemical element combines with other elements by some basic and consistent unit
of mass, and he decided to call these units "atoms".
For example, there are two types of tin oxide: one is a black powder that is 88.1% tin
and 11.9% oxygen, and the other is a white powder that is 78.7% tin and 21.3%
oxygen. Adjusting these figures, in the black oxide there is about 13.5 g of oxygen
for every 100 g of tin, and in the white oxide there is about 27 g of oxygen for every
100 g of tin. 13.5 and 27 form a ratio of 1:2. In these oxides, for every tin atom there
are one or two oxygen atoms respectively (SnO and SnO2).[4][5]
Dalton also analyzed iron oxides. There is one type of iron oxide that is a black
powder which is 78.1% iron and 21.9% oxygen; and there is another iron oxide that
is a red powder which is 70.4% iron and 29.6% oxygen. Adjusting these figures, in
the black oxide there is about 28 g of oxygen for every 100 g of iron, and in the red
oxide there is about 42 g of oxygen for every 100 g of iron. 28 and 42 form a ratio of
2:3. In these respective oxides, for every two atoms of iron, there are two or three
atoms of oxygen (Fe2O2 and Fe2O3).[a][6][7]
As a final example: nitrous oxide is 63.3% nitrogen and 36.7% oxygen, nitric oxide is
44.05% nitrogen and 55.95% oxygen, and nitrogen dioxide is 29.5% nitrogen and
70.5% oxygen. Adjusting these figures, in nitrous oxide there is 80 g of oxygen for
every 140 g of nitrogen, in nitric oxide there is about 160 g of oxygen for every 140 g
of nitrogen, and in nitrogen dioxide there is 320 g of oxygen for every 140 g of
nitrogen. 80, 160, and 320 form a ratio of 1:2:4. The respective formulas for these
oxides are N2O, NO, and NO2.[8][9]
Kinetic theory of gases
Main article: Kinetic theory of gases
In 1738 Daniel Bernoulli [10] and a number of other scientists found that they could
better explain the behavior of gases by describing them as collections of sub-
microscopic particles and modelling their behavior using statistics and probability.
Unlike Dalton's atomic theory, the kinetic theory of gases describes not how gases
react chemically with each other to form compounds, but how they behave
physically: diffusion, viscosity, conductivity, pressure, etc.
Brownian motion
In 1827, botanist Robert Brown used a microscope to look at dust grains floating in
water and discovered that they moved about erratically, a phenomenon that became
known as "Brownian motion". This was thought to be caused by water molecules
knocking the grains about. In 1905, Albert Einstein proved the reality of these
molecules and their motions by producing the first statistical physics analysis
of Brownian motion.[11][12][13] French physicist Jean Perrin used Einstein's work to
experimentally determine the mass and dimensions of molecules, thereby providing
physical evidence for the particle nature of matter. [14]
Discovery of the electron

The Geiger–Marsden experiment:
Left: Expected results: alpha particles passing through the plum pudding model of the atom with negligible
deflection.
Right: Observed results: a small portion of the particles were deflected by the concentrated positive charge
of the nucleus.

In 1897, J. J. Thomson discovered that cathode rays are not electromagnetic waves

but made of particles that are 1,800 times lighter than hydrogen (the lightest atom).
Thomson concluded that these particles came from the atoms within the cathode —
they were subatomic particles. He called these new particles corpuscles but they
were later renamed electrons. Thomson also showed that electrons were identical to
particles given off by photoelectric and radioactive materials.[15] It was quickly
recognized that electrons are the particles that carry electric currents in metal wires.
[16]
 Thomson concluded that these electrons emerged from the very atoms of the
cathode in his instruments, which meant that atoms are not indivisible as the
name atomos suggests.
Discovery of the nucleus
Main article: Geiger–Marsden experiment
J. J. Thomson thought that the negatively-charged electrons were distributed
throughout the atom in a sea of positive charge that was distributed across the whole
volume of the atom.[17] This model is sometimes known as the plum pudding model.
Ernest Rutherford and his colleagues Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden came to
have doubts about the Thomson model after they encountered difficulties when they
tried to build an instrument to measure the charge-to-mass ratio of alpha
particles (these are positively-charged particles emitted by certain radioactive
substances such as radium). The alpha particles were being scattered by the air in
the detection chamber, which made the measurements unreliable. Thomson had
encountered a similar problem in his work on cathode rays, which he solved by
creating a near-perfect vacuum in his instruments. Rutherford didn't think he'd run
into this same problem because alpha particles are much heavier than electrons.
According to Thomson's model of the atom, the positive charge in the atom is not
concentrated enough to produce an electric field strong enough to deflect an alpha
particle, and the electrons are so lightweight they should be pushed aside effortlessly
by the much heavier alpha particles. Yet there was scattering, so Rutherford and his
colleagues decided to investigate this scattering carefully. [18]
Between 1908 and 1913, Rutheford and his colleagues performed a series of
experiments in which they bombarded thin foils of metal with alpha particles. They
spotted alpha particles being deflected by angles greater than 90°. To explain this,
Rutherford proposed that the positive charge of the atom is not distributed
throughout the atom's volume as Thomson believed, but is concentrated in a tiny
nucleus at the center. Only such an intense concentration of charge could produce
an electric field strong enough to deflect the alpha particles as observed. [18]