BALDWIN GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL, BENGALURU-25

STD: 7, SUBJECT: CHEMISTRY

ATOMIC STRUCTURE

I. Answer in short.
1. What are the main postulates of Dalton’s atomic theory?
Ans. The various postulates of Dalton’s atomic theory of matter are:
- All the matter is made up of very small particles called atoms.
- Atoms cannot be divided.
- Atoms can neither be created nor destroyed.
- Atoms are of various kinds. There are as many kind of atoms as are
elements.
- All the atoms of a given element have same properties.
- Atoms of different elements have different properties.
2. Dalton’s atomic theory says that atoms are indivisible. Is this statement still
valid? Give reasons for your answer.
Ans. No, the statement mentioned above is not valid. It was assumed that an
atom is indivisible. As studies showed that an atom can be further divided
into fundamental particles like electrons, protons and neutrons.
3. State the chemical symbols for the following elements.
Ans. Sodium – Na.
Potassium – K.
Iron – Fe.
Copper – Cu.
Mercury – Hg.
Silver – Ag.
4. What is meant by atomicity? Explain with two examples.
Ans. The number of atoms present in one molecule of an element is called its
atomicity.
Eg: Noble gas like helium has one atom, it is said to be monoatomic.
Oxygen has two atoms in its molecule, it is said to be diatomic.
5. What is the atomicity of the following?
Ans. Oxygen (O2) – atomicity is 2.
Neon (Ne) – atomicity is 1.
Sulphur (S8) – atomicity is 8.
Ozone (O3) – atomicity is 3.
Phosphorus (P4) – atomicity is 4.
Sodium (Na) – atomicity is 1.
6. What is meant by molecular formula? Write the formulae of one element
and one compound.
Ans. A chemical formula that indicates the kinds of atoms and the number of
each kind in a molecule of a compound is known as molecular formula.
The molecular formula of an element: Hydrogen – H2.
The molecular formula of a compound: Hydrogen chloride – HCl.
7. Write the formulae of the following compounds. Also name the elements
present in them.
Ans. Water - H2O – Hydrogen and oxygen.
Ammonia – NH3 – Nitrogen and hydrogen.
Methane – CH4 – Carbon and hydrogen.
8. What do the symbols H2, S and O (4 atoms) stand for in the formula
H2SO4.
Ans. H2 – Hydrogen.
S – Sulphur.
O (4 atoms) – Oxygen.
9. Name the elements water is made of? What are the valencies of these
elements?
Ans. Water (H2O) is made up of two atoms of hydrogen with one atom of
oxygen.
The valency of oxygen is two and hydrogen is one.
Formula of water is: H1+ O2-
Symbols: H O
Valencies: 1+ 2- 2 1

Formula: H2O1=H2O
10. If the valency of hydrogen is 1 and that of nitrogen is 3, work and the
formula for ammonia.
Ans. Formula of ammonia is:
Symbols: N H N3- H1+
Valencies: 3- 1+
1 3
Formula= NH3
11. What is the difference between an atom and molecule?
Ans.
Atom Molecule
An atom is the smallest A combination of atoms is
particle of an element that called a molecule. Molecules
can take part in a chemical can exist in free state as they
reaction. Atoms of most of are very stable.
elements are very reactive
and do not exist in the free
state.

12. What are radicals? Explain giving examples.

Ans. A radical is a single atom of a element or a group of atoms of different
elements behaving as single unit with a charge on group.
Eg: Hydroxide – (OH-)
Ammonium – (NH4+)
Hydrogen ion – (H+)
13. What is number of valence electrons and valency of group two elements?
Ans. Number of electrons present in the outermost shell is the number of
valence electrons. The group two elements have two valence electrons
and their elements valency is two.
14. Name the following as acid or basic radicals.
Ans. Al3+ - Aluminium radical (basic radical).
CO32- - carbonate radical (acid radical).
PO43- - phosphate radical (acid radical).
 15. Name two elements belonging to group one. Also write their valencies.
Ans. The two elements that belong to group one:
Sodium (Na) – 1+
Potassium (K) – 1+
II. Answer the following in detail.
1. Explain the following.
a. What is an atom? How do atoms usually exist?
Ans. An atom is the smallest particle of an element that can take part in a
chemical reaction. Atoms of most of elements are very reactive and do not
exist in the free state. They exist in free state in the form of a molecule.
b. What is a molecule? Explain with an example.
Ans. A combination of atoms is called a molecule. Molecules can exist in free
state as they are very stable. A molecule of hydrogen element
contains two hydrogen atoms combined together and it is written as H2.
c. What is the difference between the molecule of an element and the
molecule of a compound? Give one example each.
Ans. The molecular formula of an element in a statement of the composition of
its molecule in which symbol tells us the element and the subscript tells
us how many atoms are present in one molecule.
Eg: One molecule of hydrogen element contains two atoms of hydrogen,
hence the formula of hydrogen is H2.
The molecular formula of a compound is a statement of its composition in
which the chemical symbols tell us which elements are present and the
subscripts tell us how many atoms of each element are present in one
molecule of the compound.
Eg: One molecule of water contains two atom of hydrogen and one atom
of oxygen, hence the formula of water is H2O.
 2. Explain giving examples the relationship between periodic table and
valence electrons.
Ans. Elements present in the same group have same valence electrons. For
example, all the elements of group 1 of the periodic table like lithium,
sodium and potassium have 1 valence electron. Their valency is also
1+. The group 2 elements have 2 valence electrons and their valency is 2+.
Elements of Group 18 have 8 valence electrons (except helium which has
2 valence electrons). They are chemically inert and their valency is 0.
The elements within the same group have same properties.
3. What is valency? Explain valency of radicals based on charge and on the
basis of hydrogen atom.
Ans. Combining capacity of an atom or radical to form molecules is called
its valency. In case of radicals, valency is indicated by the charge on it.
If a radical has 1 unit charge, its valency is 1 and is called a monovalent.
If a radical has 2 units of charge, its valency is 2 and it is called as
divalent. And if a radical has 3 units of charge, then its valency is 3 and
is called a trivalent. A basic radical has a positive charge, so it has
positive valency: an acid radical has negative charge, so it has negative
valency. For Example, OH- is and has valency -1, Fe3+ has
a +3 charge. It is trivalent and has a positive valency 3.
The valency of elements or radicals can also be predicted from number of
hydrogen atoms attached in the chemical formula of the compound. For
example, in hydrogen chloride (HCl) one hydrogen atom is attached to
chlorine atom. Since, only one hydrogen is attached to the chlorine; hence
valency of chlorine will be one.
4. Work on the molecular formulae of the following:
Ans. a. Zinc sulphide (ZnS) b. Calcium chloride (CaCl2)
Zn2+ S2- Ca2+ Cl1-

2 2 1 2
1 1 CaCl2
ZnS
c. Magnesium oxide (MgO) d. Iron (II) Sulphide (FeS)
Mg2+ O2- Fe2+ S2-
2 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
MgO FeS