Atomic structure

From “Atomos” to Quantum Mechanics

Learning Intention
• To learn how to draw and interpret the Bohr model of an atom
• To learn the quantum mechanics model of the atom
• To write the electron configuration using the orbitals model
(extension)

Success Criteria
• I can draw and interpret the Bohr model of an atom
• I can describe the orbitals model and write the electron configuration
for the first 20 elements (extension)
Atomic Model Timeline

3
Rutherford Experiment
Vacuum
flask

a-rays
What’s in the box?

Is all the mass spread or is all the mass

throughout as in a box concentrated in a dense
of marshmallows”? “ball-bearing”?
Figure it out without opening (or shaking)

Shoot bullets randomly through the box. If it

is filled with marshmallows, all the bullets will
go straight through without (much) deflection
Figure it out without opening (or shaking)

If it contains a ball-bearing most the bullets will go

straight through without deflection---but not all

Occasionally, a bullet will collide nearly head-on to

the ball-bearing and be deflected by a large angle
Rutherford used a-ray “bullets” to distinguish
between the plum-pudding & planetary models
Plum-pudding:
++ +
+
- - -+
a
+
+ +
a
- - - +
a + + + +
a
-+ -+
- +
no way for a-rays to scatter at wide angles
 distinguishing between the plum-pudding
& planetary models

-
a
a
- -
+
a
a -
-
Occasionally, an a-rays will be pointed head-on
to a nucleus & will scatter at a wide angle
Rutherford saw ~1/10,000
a-rays scatter at wide angles

-
a
- -
a +
a
a -
-
from this he inferred a nuclear
size of about 10-14m
Rutherford atom
10-10m

Not to scale!!!

If it were to scale,
10-14m the nucleus would
+ be too small to see

Even though it has

more than 99.9%
of the atom’s mass
Relative scales
Aloha stadium
Golf ball

x10-4

Nucleus
Atom 99.97% of the mass
Atomic Model Timeline

13
 Quantum Mechanical Model
Niels Bohr &
Albert Einstein

Modern atomic theory describes the electronic

structure of the atom as the probability of finding
electrons within certain regions of space (orbitals).
 Modern View

• The atom is mostly empty space

• Two regions
• Nucleus
• protons and neutrons
• Electron cloud
• region where you might find an electron
The Bohr Model
• Niels Bohr (1885-1962) was a Danish physicist and a student of
Rutherford’s.

• In 1913, Bohr introduced his atomic model based on the simplest

atom, hydrogen (only 1 electron)
• Bohr proposed that an electron is found only in specific circular paths, or
orbits, around the nucleus.

16
How do we draw the structure?
1. Find the atomic
number – this is how
many protons and
electrons there are
2. Draw the nucleus
3. Draw the electrons
starting from the inside
shell (2 electrons)
4. Fill the 2nd shell (up to
8)
5. Fill the 3rd shell (up to
8)
Questions
Draw the atomic structure of these elements in your book

Element Name Symbol Atomic

Number
Helium He 2
Flourine F 9
Sodium Na 11
Chlorine Cl 17
 Atomic Structure
• The position of the element on the table
also tells us more about the element.

• The row number (period) tells us how

many shells/orbitals an element has.

• The column number (group) tells us how

many valence electrons are in the valence
shell (look at number in ones place)

• Valence = outside/last
Lewis Structure
• Only uses the valence
electrons
• Draws them in pairs
around the atomic symbol
 Quantum Mechanical Model
Niels Bohr &
Albert Einstein

Modern atomic theory describes the electronic

structure of the atom as the probability of finding
electrons within certain regions of space (orbitals).
 Modern View

• The atom is mostly empty space

• Two regions
• Nucleus
• protons and neutrons
• Electron cloud
• region where you might find an electron
The Quantum Mechanical Model
• Rutherford’s and Bohr’s model focused on describing
the path of the electron around the nucleus like a
particle (like a small baseball).

• Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger (1887–1961)

treated the electron as a wave.

• The modern description of the electrons in atoms, the

quantum mechanical model, comes from the
mathematical solutions to the Schrödinger equation.

23
Electrons as Waves
EVIDENCE: DIFFRACTION PATTERNS

VISIBLE LIGHT ELECTRONS

 5.1

The Quantum Mechanical Model

• The propeller blade has the same probability of being
anywhere in the blurry region, but you cannot tell its
location at any instant. The electron cloud of an atom
can be compared to a spinning airplane propeller.
• The quantum model determines the allowed energies an
electron can have and how likely it is to find the electron
in various locations around the nucleus.
 5.1

The Quantum Mechanical Model

• The probability of finding an

electron within a certain volume
of space surrounding the nucleus
can be represented as a fuzzy
cloud.
• The cloud is more dense where the
probability of finding the electron is
high.
 Shells and Orbitals and Atomic Structure
f
d
s p

•Shells of an
atom contain
a number of
stacked
orbitals
4

1
1st and 2nd level s-orbitals
and the p-orbitals all together.
 5.1

Atomic Orbitals
• The numbers and kinds of atomic orbitals depend on the
energy sublevel.
Energy # of Letter of # of orbitals # of Total
Level, n sublevels sublevels per sublevel electrons in electrons in
each orbital energy level

1 1 s 1 2 2

s 1 2
2 2 8
p 3 6

s 1 2
3 3 p 3 6 18
d 5 10

s 1 2
4 p 3 6
4 32
d 5 10
f 7 14
Periodic table arrangement
s (n) d (n - 1) p (n)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
f (n -2)

• the quantum theory helps to explain the structure

of the periodic table.
• n - 1 indicates that the d subshell in period 4
actually starts at 3 (4 - 1 = 3).
 5.1

Atomic Orbitals
• The number of electrons allowed in each of the first four
energy levels are shown here.
• A maximum of 2 electrons per orbital

Use this to find the #

of electrons in an
energy level 2n2
 5.2

Electron Configurations
• The ways in which electrons are arranged in various orbitals around
the nuclei of atoms are called electron configurations.

• Three rules—the aufbau principle, the Pauli exclusion principle, and Hund’s
rule—tell you how to find the electron configurations of atoms.

• We will only focus on the aufbau principle for this subject - you will learn the
other principles in VCE
Filling Diagram for Sublevels

Aufbau Principle
According to the aufbau principle, electrons occupy the
orbitals of lowest energy first. In the aufbau diagram
below, each box represents an atomic orbital.
 5.2

Electron Configurations
• Orbital Filling Diagram
Electron Configurations
• The electron configuration of an atom is a shorthand
method of writing the location of electrons by
sublevel.
• The sublevel is written followed by a superscript with
the number of electrons in the sublevel.
• If the 2p sublevel contains 2 electrons, it is written 2p2
 # of e- in

1s 2
Electron Configuration Symbols
sub level

Energy Level
Sub Level
(s, p, d, f )
 Writing Electron Configurations
• First, determine how many electrons are in the atom.
Iron has 26 electrons.
• Arrange the energy sublevels according to increasing
energy:
• 1s 2s 2p 3s 3p 4s 3d …
• Fill each sublevel with electrons until you have used all
the electrons in the atom:
• Fe: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d 6
• The sum of the superscripts equals the atomic number of
iron (26)
What am I doing now?
MUST complete questions 1 - 4 on the worksheet
SHOULD also complete questions 5-7
COULD also complete the atomic orbitals worksheet