Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 1

To enable students to:

 Understand what an atom is
 Understand that atom is made up of subatomic particles in of distinct
characteristics
 Understand the arrangement of electrons in the atom of first twenty
element
 Represent arrangement of electrons for first twenty elements in full and
simplified electronic configuration
 Understand what a periodic table is
 Understand what a period of a periodic table is and, the trend of
elements in a period and the characteristics of elements in the same
period
 Understand what a group of periodic table is and the characteristics of
elements in the same group
 Understand how to calculate the number of protons, electrons and
neutrons given the mass number and atomic number of an element.
 Know how to derive the number of protons, electrons and neutrons
given any of the other values or from periodic table
Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 2
 Matter is made up of building blocks called
elements.
 An element is a pure substance that cannot be
broken down into simpler substances by
chemical methods.

Tile
Lego structure (=element)
(=matter)
Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 3
 Element is made up of tiny particles, called atom.

 Each element consists of the same type of

atoms.

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 4

 Atoms is the smallest particle of an element.

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 5

 How small is an atom?

Object Length in metres

Length of a housefly 0.05
Size of a dust particle 0.0001
Diameter of a strand of hair 0.00006
Size of a bacteria 0.000001
Diameter of a hydrogen atom 0.0000000001

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 6

 atomos, an ancient Greek word meaning indivisible.

 The Greek philosopher Demokritos (460-370 BCE)

maintained that all matter could be divided and sub-
divided into smaller and smaller units, and
eventually there would be a tiny particle that could
not be divided any further - an atom.

 Proven by scientific experiment by John Dalton in

the 1800s
Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 7
Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 8
 An atom consists mostly of empty space.
 An atom has a nucleus in the centre and made up
of 3 sub-atomic particles, protons, neutrons and
electrons.

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 9

 An atom consists
mostly of empty
space.

An atom has a nucleus,

densely concentrated in
the centre.
The nucleus contains Negatively charged
positively charged electrons move
protons and neutrons, around the nucleus
which are tightly packed. in fixed orbits or
paths.

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 10

 Neutron

Found in the nucleus which is in

the centre of an atom.

Carries no charge (charge = 0).

Has relative mass of 1.

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 11

 Proton

Found in the nucleus which is in

the centre of an atom.

Carries a charge of +1.

Has relative mass of 1.

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 12

 Electrons

Found in electron shells which

surround the atom.

Carries a charge of -1.

Has negligible mass or relative

mass of 1/2000.

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 13

 Subatomic Relative Relative Location
Particles Charge mass
Neutron 0 1 Nucleus
Proton +1 1 Nucleus
Electron -1 1/2000 Electron shells

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 14

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 15
 Mass number = 12
Proton number = 6

It has:
6 protons
6 electrons
6 neutrons
Subatomic Relative Total
Particles Charge Charge An atom is electrically neutral
Electron -1 -6
Proton +1 +6 ** number of protons
Neutron 0 0 = number of electrons
Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 16
 A neutron walked into a bar and asked, “How
much for a drink?”

 What did the bartender reply?

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 17

 Is Ferrero Roche a good representation of an atom?

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 18

 Electronic structure/configuration: The way
the electrons are arranged in an atom

 Determined by energy levels around the

nucleus of an atom.

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 19

 Each energy level can accommodate a
definite number of electrons.
 First 20 elements (Hydrogen to Calcium)
 1st energy level (nearest to nucleus) : 2 electrons
 2nd energy level : 8 electrons
 3rd energy level : 8 electrons
 4th energy level: 8 electrons

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 20

Shell number Maximum
from nucleus number of
electrons
1 2
2 4
3 4
4 4

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 21

 Consider a Hydrogen atom (1 electron):
Hydrogen atom only has 1
electron, so the first shell gets
H
H to fill up first.

 Consider a Helium atom (2 electrons):

Helium atom has 2 electrons

and fill up the first shell.
He
He

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 22

 Consider Lithium atom:
Lithium has 3 electrons.
First 2 electrons fill up the
Li
Li first shell.
The 3rd electron fills up the
2nd shell.

 The above is called a full electronic structure of a

lithium atom
 Simplified electronic structure (Electron Configuration)
of a lithium atom: 2.1
Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 23
 The above is called a full
electronic structure of a
calcium atom
Ca
 Simplified electronic
structure (Electron
Configuration) of a
lithium atom: 2.8.8.2

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 24

Draw the full electronic structure for these atoms:

 Boron (5 electrons)
 Oxygen (8 electrons)
 Magnesium (12 electrons)
 Chlorine (17 electrons)

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 25

Element Proton number Electronic Configuration
H 1 1
He 2 2
Li 3 2.1
Be 4 2.2
B 5
C 6 2.4
N 7
O 8 2.6
F 9
Ne 10 2.8
Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 26
Element Proton number Electronic Configuration
Na 11 2.8.1
Mg 12 2.8.2
Al 13
Si 14
P 15
S 16 2.8.6
Cl 17
Ar 18
K 19
Ca 20 2.8.8.2
Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 27
 Electrons in the outermost shell — valence
electrons.

 Valence electrons of the atom are the electrons

that take part in chemical reactions.

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 28

 gas at room temperature

liquid at room temperature

solid at room temperature

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 29
 A horizontal period in the Periodic Table contains
elements with the same number of electron
shells.

 A vertical group in the Periodic Table contains

elements with the same number of electrons in
the outermost (valence) shell.

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 30

 Road Work
No smoking

Toilet
Radioactive

A symbol gives information faster than words.

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 31

 Different languages across the world
Syre Swedish
Zuurstof Dutch
Sauerstoff German
Oxygène French
Oxygen English
 Need to set a standard name that will be recognised by
everyone.
 Hence, each element given an internationally
recognised chemical symbols.
Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 32
 Each element represented by a chemical symbol of one or
two letters, usually from its name.
 The first letter in a chemical symbol is always capitalised and
any other letter that follows is in the lower case.
 When the chemical symbol is only one letter, it is usually the
first letter of its English name
 Example
Hydrogen H
Boron B
Carbon C
▪ There are two exceptions
Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 33
 For two-letter symbols, it may or may not be made up of
the first two letters of its English name
 Example
Lithium Li
Calcium Ca
Magnesium Mg
Chlorine Cl
 For some two-letter symbols, the letters do not come
from its English name at all
 Example
Copper Cu
Iron Fe
Lead Pb
Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 34
 a Mass No.


b X Atomic No.
The mass number/nucleon number of an element is the
Symbol

sum of the number of protons and the number of

neutrons contained in one atom of the element.
(mass number = number of protons + number of neutrons)
 The atomic number/proton number of an element is
the number of protons contained in one atom of an
element.
Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 35
 Na
23

11

Atomic number =_______

Mass number =________

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 36

 Na
23

11
number of protons = 11
number of electrons = 11
(hint: number of protons equals number of electrons)

number of neutrons = 23-11

= 12
(hint: mass number = number of protons + number of neutrons)

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 37

 Ca Cr
40 52

20 24

Mass number =_______ Mass number = ________

Atomic number =_______ Atomic number = ________

No. of protons = number of protons =

No. of electrons = number of neutrons =
No. of neutrons = number of electrons =

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 38

 Fill in the table with the correct value

Proton Electron Neutron Atomic Mass

Number Number
Phosphorus 15 16

Zinc 30 30 65

Arsenic 42 33

Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 39

I am able to:

 Define what is atom

 Explain the structure of atom with its sub-particles
 Explain the characteristics of sub-particles
 Define mass/nucleon number and atomic/proton number
 State the mass/nucleon number and atomic/proton number of a
given element
 State the number of protons, electrons and neutron of a given
element
 Explain the electronic configuration of an atom
 Draw the electronic structure and write the configuration of a given
element
Lower Secondary Science Atoms and Atomic Structure 40