Atomic

Theory and
Determining
Atomic
Structure

WEEK 5 QUARTER 3
Atomic Theory

• Developed by John Dalton in the

early 1800s.
• States that all matter is composed
of atoms, which are indivisible
and indestructible building blocks.
• Atoms of different elements have
different properties, and they
combine to form compounds.
 Atoms are made up of three
subatomic particles: protons,
neutrons, and electrons.

Atomic Protons and neutrons are found in

the nucleus, while electrons orbit
Structure around the nucleus in shells.

The number of protons in an atom

determines its atomic number and
the element it represents.
 • The electron was the first subatomic particle
to be discovered. In 1897, J.J. Thomson, a
British physicist, conducted a series of
experiments using cathode ray tubes. He
found that the cathode rays (streams of
ELECTRON negatively charged particles) were deflected
by electric and magnetic fields, indicating
that they were negatively charged particles.
He concluded that these particles were
subatomic and named them electrons.
 The proton was discovered in 1917 by Ernest
Rutherford, a New Zealand physicist.
Rutherford conducted an experiment in which
he directed a beam of alpha particles
(positively charged particles) at a thin sheet of
PROTON gold foil. He observed that some of the alpha
particles were deflected, indicating that they
had encountered a positively charged nucleus.
This led Rutherford to conclude that atoms
had a small, dense, positively charged nucleus
at their center, which he called the proton.
 • The neutron was discovered in 1932 by
James Chadwick, a British physicist.
Chadwick was able to show that the nucleus
NEUTRON of the atom contained another particle that
had no charge, but still contributed to the
mass of the atom. This particle was the
neutron.
STRUCTURE OF AN ATOM
 Atomic number = number of protons in
the nucleus.

Determining Neutrons = atomic mass - atomic

number.
Atomic Electrons = number of protons in a
Structure neutral atom (same as atomic
number).
Electrons in an ion = number of
protons + or - the charge of the ion.
HOW TO FIND
THE
PROTON,
NETRON AND
ELECTRON
OF AN
ELEMENT ON
THE
PERIODIC
TABLE OF
ELEMENTS
 Carbon atom with atomic number
of 6 and atomic mass of 12.

Protons = 6 (atomic number)

Example
Neutrons = 12 - 6 = 6

Electrons = 6 (same as number of

protons in a neutral atom)
 Atoms of the same element
can have different numbers of
neutrons, resulting in
isotopes with different atomic
masses.
Isotopes Isotopes have the same
number of protons (and thus
the same atomic number) but
different numbers of
neutrons.