Atomic Structure and the Periodic

Table

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All Matter is Made of Atoms
 Hydrogen is the most
common atom of our
universe

 Types of atoms in Earth’s

www.earthshope.org
Crust
 Iron 5%, Aluminum 8%,
Silicon 28%, Oxygen 47%,
Other 12%

 Types of atoms in Humans

 Nitrogen 3%, Hydrogen 10%,
Oxygen 61%, Other 26 % bubblingbrain.wordpress.com
Names and Symbols of Elements
 Each element has its own symbol

 Some elements use the first letter of the name:

hydrogen (H), Sulfur (S),Carbon (C)

 Other elements use the first letter of the name

plus another letter: aluminum (Al), Platinum (Pt),
Zinc (Zn)

 The first letter is always capitalized and the

following letters are lower case.
 Early Greek Philosophers
determined that atoms are the
building blocks of matter.
John Dalton (1766–1844)
John Dalton’s theory of the
atom started out as a solid
sphere with no charges

Proposed the atomic theory

by investigating atomic
weights of atoms
 J.J. Thomson determines that an atom
is made up of negative electrons
embedded in a sea of positive charges .

+ +
- -+
- -
+
www.ucl.ac.uk
 Ernest Rutherford did some
experiments with thin metal foils and
found that the positive charge is
located within a central nucleus

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 Neils Bohr worked under Rutherford but
found problems with his theory. He
ultimately determined that Electrons are in
circular orbits with increasing energy
levels.

_
_
nobelprize.org
The modern atomic model shows that
electrons occupy regions of space
whose shape is described by complex
mathematical equations. (James
Chadwick)

www.csmate.colostate.edu
 History of Atomic Theory
 John Dalton’s theory of the atom started out as a solid
sphere with no charges.

 Then J.J. Thomson figured out there were positive and

negative charges in an atom.

 Rutherford determined that the positive charges

(protons) were located in the center of the atom and the
negative charges (electrons) were scattered around the
nucleus

 Bohr’s theory said that the protons are in the middle and
the electrons travel in specific energy levels and orbits
around the nucleus

 Modern model- protons and neutrons in nucleus,

electrons on energy levels
 Review
 An atom is made up of protons (+),
neutrons (no charge), and electrons(-).

 The protons and neutrons are found in

the nucleus

 There has to be an equal number of

protons and electrons because atoms
have no net charge!

 Atomic mass is the number of protons

and neutrons www.csmate.colostate.edu

 Atomic number is the number of

protons (which is the same as the
number of electrons)
 Vocabulary
Atom: the smallest particle of an element that has the
chemical properties of the element

Nucleus: found in the center of the atom and contains the

protons and neutrons

Proton: a positively charged particle found in the nucleus

of an atom

Neutrons: an uncharged particle found in the nucleus of an

atom

Electron: negatively charged particles that move around

outside the nucleus of the atom

Isotopes: atoms of the same element that have a different

number of neutrons. Chlorine atoms have 17 protons, but some
atoms of chlorine have 18 or 20 neutrons these atoms are the
isotopes of chlorine
Atoms form Ions
 Ions: formed when an
atom loses or gains one
or more electrons(- or +
charge)

 Cation: formed when an

atom loses an electron
(+ charge)

 Anion: formed when an

atom gains an electron
(-charge)
Elements are organized by similarity
 Modern Periodic
Table organized by
the atomic # of the
elements

 Dmitri Mendeleev
began organizing www.cartage.org.lb
elements by their
physical and chemical
properties (1860’s)
 Periodic Table of the Elements
 Mendeleev
produced the first
periodic table

 Called the periodic

table because a
periodic, or
repeating pattern of
properties of the
elements

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 Periodic Table
 Period: each row of the
periodic table is called a
period. If you read from
left to right one proton
and one electron are
added from one element
to the next

 Group/Family: Each
column of the table is
called a group or family.
Elements in a group
share similar properties.
Groups/Families are read
from top to bottom www.chem4kids.com
Atomic Size on the Periodic Table

 Left to right atomic size decreases

 Top to bottom atomic size increases

encarta.msn.com
More Properties of Periodic Table

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Periodic Table has distinct regions
 Reactive: indicates how likely an element
is to undergo a chemical change

 Most elements are somewhat reactive and

combine with other materials

 The most reactive are in groups (up/down)

1 and 17
 The least reactive are in group (up/down)
18
Elements combine by the outside
electrons
 All of the electrons in the combining elements do not interact with
each other to form compounds….

 Valence Electrons: Only the electrons in the element’s outside

energy level interact with each other.

 The most stable configuration has 8 electrons in the outer

energy level.

 Elements in group 1 have 1 electron in outside energy level and

elements in group 17 have 7 electrons in outside energy level so
they react with each other easily to form compounds and fulfill the 8
electron stable configuration.
 Most elements are Metals
metals
 Metals are
elements that
conduct electricity
and heat, have
shiny appearance,
and can be
shaped by
pounding
(malleability),
bending, or being
drawn into a thin
wire (ductility)
Metal types
 Reactive metals: Group (up/down) 1 most reactive

 Transition Metals: Group 3-12 (up/down) generally

less reactive than most metals
 Rare Earth Elements

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 Top row of the two rows of metals that are outside of the main
periodic table

 Also known as Lanthanides because they follow the element

lanthanum (La) on the table

 Scientists once thought these metals were available only in tiny

amounts on the Earth
Actinide
• bottom row of the two
rows of metals that are
outside of the main
periodic table

• The Actinide series is

all radioactive and www.chem4kids.com
some are not found in
nature.
 Nonmetals
 Nonmetals: the elements on the right side of the
periodic table
 Many are gases at room temperature, dull
surfaces on the solid nonmetals, cannot be
shaped by ductility or malleability
Halogens
 Elements in group 17
 7 valence electrons

 Greek “forming salts

 Very reactive non-metals

that easily form compounds www.chem4kids.com
with metals. These
compounds are known as
salts.
Noble Gases
 Group 18 on the
periodic table
 8 valence electrons

 Noble or inert
because they almost
never react with other www.chem4kids.com

elements
 Metalloids
 Have properties of both metals and nonmetals
 Located on either side of the zigzag line
separating metals and nonmetals
 Most common is Silicon

www.mvschools.org
 Radioactivity

 Radioactivity: the process by

which the nucleus of an atom
releases energy and particles

 Marie Curie was the first person to

isolate two radioactive elements
(polonium and radium)

 An isotope is radioactive if the www.achievement.org

nucleus has too many or too few
neutrons
 Radioactive atoms
produce energy and Radioactive Decay
particles from their nuclei

 The identity of these

atoms changes because
the # of protons changes.
(radioactive decay)

 Occurs at a steady rate

characteristic to each
isotope

 The amount of time for

one-half of the atoms to earthsci.org
decay is called the half-
life of the isotope
Radioactive Decay
 Parent decays into daughter isotope.
 Combination of both is 100%

 Parent starts at 100% and decays to 50%

 100% 1 half-life to 50% (daughter 50%)
 50% 2 half-lives to 25% (daughter 75%)
 25% 3 half-lives to 12.5% (daughter 87.5%)
 12.5% 4 half-lives to 6.25% (daughter 93.75%)