Properties of Materials

Atomic Structure and the Periodic Table

The Periodic Table
• The atoms of elements in periodic table increase in mass as you progress from left
to right and from top to bottom
• Each element has an atomic number and this tells us the number of protons in the
element
• The atomic number, also known as the proton number, increases by one unit with
every element
• Each element has a mass number, also known as the atomic mass or nucleon
number
• The mass number tells us about the number of protons and neutrons it has in total
• Mass number = number of protons + number of neutrons
• The sub atomic particles of atoms are electrons with a negative charge, protons with
a positive charge and neutrons with a neutral or no charge
• Therefore an atom has no overall charge because the number of protons is equal to
the number of electrons so they cancel each other
The Lithium Example

• Atomic number is 3
• Mass number is 7
• Number of protons is 3
• Number of electrons is 3
• Number of neutrons is 4
• The higher the mass, the more mass the atom has, for example,
hydrogen has a mass number of 1 and carbon has a mass number of
12 therefore one atom of carbon has 12 times more mass than one
atom of hydrogen
• The higher the mass number of an element, the higher its density
• Density is the measure of mass for a fixed volume of a substance and
its units are g/cm3
Arranging Electrons in an atom
• Danish scientist, Niels Bohr in 1913, developed Rutherford’s atomic model
into the modern day model
• In his model, electrons move in different shells also called energy levels
around the nucleus
• The electrons are arranged in electron shells around the nucleus and this
called electronic structure
• The first shell only has room for 2 electrons ( accommodates up to 2
electrons
• The second and third shell can accommodate up to 8 electrons
• In diagrams, electrons are usually represented by crosses
• In an atom the electrons are held in position by electrostatic forces
between them and the nucleus
The Lithium Example
More Examples
• The electron arrangement can also be done or represented in
numeric form
Examples:
Hydrogen (1 electron) = 1
Helium (2 electrons) = 2
Lithium (3 electrons) = 2, 1
Oxygen (8 electrons) = 2, 6
Neon (10 electrons) = 2, 8
Sodium (11 electrons) = 2,8, 1