Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Mama Mo
Mama Mo
Atoms are the building blocks of matter. A combination of atoms forms a molecule.
Large groups of atoms and molecules form the bulk matter of day-to-day life in the
physical world. There are more than 100 different kinds of atoms listed in the periodic
table, with each kind constituting a unique chemical element.
Atoms and/or molecules in two or more elements can join together to form
a compound. This compound, which is the basis of matter, may not resemble any of
the original ingredients.
For example, sodium and chlorine, two highly poisonous elements that are unstable at
room temperatures, combine to form one of the most common and harmless
compounds known to man called common salt (sodium chloride, or NaCl). Unlike its
constituent elements, salt is highly stable, harmless to humans and even edible.
Similarly, hydrogen and oxygen, which are both gaseous elements can combine to
form water, which is a liquid compound, not a gas, at room temperature.
The process by which such combinations and transformations of elements into
compounds take place is called a chemical reaction.
Atoms combine to form molecules, while atoms and/or molecules in two or more elements can
join together to form a compound.
Protons, electrons and neutrons in matter
All matter consists of atoms, which, in turn, consist of protons, neutrons and electrons.
Both protons and neutrons are located in the nucleus, which is at the center of an
atom. Protons are positively charged particles, while neutrons are neutrally charged.
Electrons are negatively charged, and they exist in orbitals surrounding the nucleus.
In any atom, like charges repel one another, and opposite charges attract one another.
This is why two protons repel each other and so do two electrons, but a proton and an
electron attract each other.
In an element, the numbers of electrons and protons are equal. Moreover, since they
have opposite charges, they cancel each other out and keep the atom neutral.
When a chemical reaction takes place to combine two or more electrons into one or
more compounds, the electrons of the atoms of each element interact with each other.
However, the reaction does not affect the atoms' nuclei.
States of matter
B.
D.