GENERAL CHEMISTRY 1

ATOMS,
 MOLECULES,
AND IONS
Objective/s:


At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

1. state the basic laws of matter.
2. describe Dalton’s atomic theory
3. recognize common isotopes and their uses
4. differentiate between atoms, molecules and
ions.
 
Basic Laws of Matter
 The basic laws of matter are fundamental laws in
the study of Chemistry.
 The Laws of matter are:
 Law of conservation of mass
 Law of constant composition
 Law of multiple proportion
 
Law of Conservation of Mass

 states that the mass of the products in a

chemical reaction will always be equal to
the mass of the reactants.
 matter can neither be destroyed nor
created.
 
Example of Law of conservation of mass
 
Law of Definite (or constant)
Composition
 States that all the samples of a chemical
compound contain all the elements in the
same proportion.
 
Example of Law of definite composition

 H2O (water)

Analysis by Mass Percent by mass

H = 2.0g H = 2.0g/ 18g x 100 = 11.0%
O = 16.0g O = 16.0g/18g x 100 = 89.0%
18.0g by mass 100% by mass
 
Law of Multiple Proportions

 states that the elements in a compound

have a proportion of those chemical
compounds that can be expressed in a
small, whole number ratio.
 
Example of Law of Multiple Proportion
 Carbon monoxide (CO) and Carbon dioxide (CO2).

the ratio of the masses of oxygen that combine with

the given mass of carbon is 1:2

 Sulfur dioxide (SO2) and Sulfur trioxide (SO3)

 Atomic

Theory of Matter
 John Dalton who started to lay down the
foundations of the atomic theory.
 He proposed that atoms have fixed weights
and definite properties.
 Revived the idea and made it science by
measuring the atomic weights of 21
elements.
 
Dalton’s Postulates

 Each element is composed of

extremely small particles called atoms
which maintain their identity in all
physical and chemical changes
 
Dalton’s Postulates

 All atoms of a given element are identical

to one another in mass and other
properties, but the atoms of one element
are different from the atoms of all other
elements.
 
Dalton’s Postulates

 Compounds are formed when atoms of

more than one element combine; a
given compound always has the same
relative number and kind of atoms.
 
Dalton’s Postulates

 Atoms of an element are not changed

into atoms of a different element by
chemical reactions ;atoms are neither
created nor destroyed in chemical
reactions.
 
The Atom
a small, indivisible particle considered to
be the basic unit of matter.
 Consists of three main subatomic particles:
 Protons
 Neutron
 Electrons
 

Electrons

 small, negatively-charged particles that spin

around the nucleus, staying in their orbits
(also called shells or energy levels)
 Mass of 1/1836 a.m.u
 

Protons

 positively-charged particles located inside the

nucleus.
 Discovered by Ernest Rutherford using gold foil
 discovered by Eugene Goldstein using Crookes
tube , with holes in the cathode.
 Mass of proton is 1 a.m.u
 

Neutrons

 Neutrons are also located inside the nucleus.

 Having no charge
 Discovered by James Chadwick in 1932, using
a thin sheet of beryllium with alpha particles
 

Representing an Atom

 One way to represent an atom of an

element is by knowing its atomic
number, mass number, and its
isotopes.
 

Atomic number (Z)

equal to the number of protons inside the

nucleus.
it is also equal to the number of electrons
outside the nucleus.
 

Mass number (A)

the sum of the number of protons and

the number of neutrons in the
nucleus.
How to represent an atom
 

Isotopes

 atoms of the same element that have the same

number of protons but different number of
neutrons.
 An example of an element with three isotopes
is Hydrogen. These are Protium., Deuterium,
and Tritium
 
Isotopes of Hydrogen
 Protium - an isotopes of hydrogen, has one proton but no
neutron. Its mass number is equal to 1. It is the most
common isotope of hydrogen and most abundant in nature.
 Deuterium - has 1 proton and 1 neutron. Its mass number is
equal to 2. Is sometimes called heavy hydrogen.
 Tritium - has 1 proton and 2 neutrons. The mass number is
equal to three (3) due to the presence of 2 neutrons. Tritium
can be present in nuclear reactions as a waste product.
Isotopes of Hydrogen
 

Other Common Isotopes and their

Uses

 Isotopes of Carbon, which has three

naturally occurring isotopes.
Carbon -12 has 6 protons and 6
neutrons. Is the most common isotope of
carbon.
 

Carbon -13 has 6 protons and 7 neutrons. Is

commonly used in studying the structure of
organic compounds using nuclear magnetic
resonance spectroscopy.
Carbon -14 has 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Is a
radioactive isotope used in carbon dating to
determine the age of materials like historical
artifacts.
Exercise:

Subatomic Particles
Elements Atomic Mass Number of Number of Number of
Number (Z) number (A) p+ n0 e-

K 19 39

Mg 24 12

P 31 15

Si 14 14

Ar 18 40
 

Molecules and Ions

 Not all matter is atomic in nature.

Most matter exist in nature in the form
of Molecules, Ions and
Compounds.
 

Molecules

made up of atoms that are chemically

bonded together.
They can be a combination of atoms of the
same element or different elements
Molecules can be diatomic or polyatomic
  Diatomic molecules

 contain only two atoms and normally occur in nature.

(a) Homonuclear - if the atoms are of the same element.

Example: Hydrogen (H2) , Chlorine (Cl2) , Bromine (Br2)
(b) Heteronuclear - if they are of different elements.
Example: Hydrogen fluoride (HF), Hydrogen chloride (HCl)
 
Polyatomic molecules

contains three (3) or more atoms.

Example: Ozone (O3), Carbon dioxide

(CO2), acetylene (C2H2)
 
Ions
atoms or molecules that have a charge, the
number of protons is not equal to the number
of electrons, giving the atom either a positive
or negative net charge.

 Cation - a positively-charged ion

 Anion - a negatively-charged ion
Exercise:
 Molecules and Ions

Determine whether the following are atoms, molecules,

or ions.
1.) Ne 6.) N2

2.) NO3 7.) O2

3.) O2- 8.) CO
4.) K+ 9.) Ar
5.) HPO42- 10.) H2O2
Reference/s:


 General Chemistry 1 for Senior High School. C&E Publishing, Inc., 2017

 General Chemistry 1 REX Bookstore