Chemistry Chapter No.4 Atomic Structure Notes: What Is An Atom?

Chemistry
Chapter no.4
Atomic Structure
Notes
What is an atom?
An atom is the smallest component of an element having the chemical properties of the element.
Basic Structure of an atom:
 An atom has a nucleus at the center containing neutrons and protons

with one or more electrons circulating around the nucleus in electron shells or at different
energy levels.
 Protons are positively charged.
 Neutrons have no charge.
 Electrons are negatively charged.
 The electrons are held by an electrostatic force of attraction by its negative charge and
positive charge of protons.
 An atom is electrically neutral because the same proton number (positive charge) in the
nucleus is balanced by the electron number (negative charge) in the shells.
How to identify atoms of different elements

 Proton number also called atomic number.
 The atomic number (proton number) determines the identity of an element.
 Each element has different proton number and no two different elements have
the same proton number.
 For examples, hydrogen has one proton number, carbon has six proton number and
chlorine has seventeen proton number (see image below).
Hydrogen has one (proton number) atomic number
Carbon has six (proton number) atomic number
Chlorine has 17 (proton number) atomic number
 In the Periodic Table, the elements are arranged in order of increasing atomic number.
Periodic Table
Relative charges and approximate relative masses of protons, neutrons and
electrons
 Since an atom is too light to be measured with a weighing scale, relative atomic mass (amu, symbol Ar ) is
used.
 The relative atomic mass is the average mass of the atom of an element, relative to the
mass of an atom of carbon-12.
 1 amu = 1/12 the mass of a carbon-12 atom
The relative mass of a carbon-12 atom = 12 ( 6 protons + 6 neutrons )
The relative mass of a hydrogen atom = 1 ( 1 proton + 0 neutron )
Meaning, the average mass of a hydrogen atom is 1/12 of the mass of a carbon-12 atom.
The relative mass of a magnesium atom = 24 (12 protons + 12 neutrons)
Meaning, the average mass of a magnesium atom is twice the mass of a carbon-12 atom.
 In fact, the relative mass of an atom are the total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus.
 Electrons are omitted because their mass is so tiny.
 A proton and a neutron weighted almost the same with a relative mass of 1 but an electron
weights only 1/1837 of a proton.
Sub-atomic Relative Mass Relative Charge Symbol

Particle
Proton 1 amu +1 p
Neutron 1 amu 0 n
Electron 1/1837 amu -1 e-
 Protons and neutrons are in the nucleus of the atom, so they are
called nucleons. Nucleon number (mass number/ atomic mass) = protons + neutrons
 The proton number and nucleon number of an element are often expressed in a short way as the following:
Example 1: A hydrogen element
An atomic structure of hydrogen element Hydrogen element written on a short way
Example 2: A helium element
List of the atoms of the first 20 elements in the Periodic Table, arranged in order
of increasing atomic number.
Element Symbol Atomic Electrons Neutrons Nucleon

number (Protons) number
(protons +
neutrons)
hydrogen H 1 1 0 1
helium He 2 2 2 4
lithium Li 3 3 4 7
beryllium Be 4 4 5 9
boron B 5 5 6 11
carbon C 6 6 6 12
nitrogen N 7 7 7 14
oxygen O 8 8 8 16
fluorine F 9 9 10 19
neon Ne 10 10 10 20
sodium Na 11 11 12 23
magnesium Mg 12 12 12 24
aluminum Al 13 13 14 27
silicon Si 14 14 14 28
phosphorus P 15 15 16 31
sulphur S 16 16 16 32
chlorine Cl 17 17 18 35
argon Ar 18 18 22 40
potassium K 19 19 20 39
calcium Ca 20 20 20 40
Electron Configuration/ Electron Structure
Electrons move very fast circulating the nucleus. Electrons can only occupy certain energy levels (shells)
and cannot exist between different levels (shells) at the same time. Each energy levels (shells) can hold
only up to a certain number of electrons.
Chlorine atom, electron configuration: 2,8,7

First shell, the closest to the nucleus, has the lowest energy level, holds up to 2 electrons.
Second shell, has higher energy level, holds up to 8 electrons.
Third shell can also holds up to 8 electrons.
The further a shell is from the nucleus, the higher the energy level.
Electron configuration means the arrangement of electrons in an atoms.
For any atom, the electrons fill the energy levels starting from the lowest energy (innermost shell). When
the first shell is full with two electrons, the remaining electrons start filling the second energy level
(second shell) up to a maximum of 8 electrons. Then, electrons continue filling the third energy level and
so-on. As the picture shown above, chlorine atom contains 17 electrons. 2 of its electrons fill the first
shell, then the next 8 electrons fill the second shell and the remainder seven electrons fill the third shell.
The electron configuration for chlorine can be written as 2,8,7
Electron Configuration/ Electronic Structure (first 20 atoms)

Electron Configuration and the Periodic Table
The horizontal raw defined as Period. Atoms of the same Period have the same number of shells.
 All atoms of Period 1 have one shell

 All atoms of Period 2 has two shells and so-on.
The vertical column defined as Group. Atoms of the same Group have the same number of valency
electrons (the same number of electrons in the outermost shell or the last shell).
 All atoms of Group 1 have one valency electron (one electron in the outermost shell or the last
shell).
 All atoms of Group 2 have two valency electrons (two electrons in the outermost shell or the last
shell).
Define Isotopes
 Isotopes are atoms of the same element with the same proton number but different neutron number
or
 The atoms of the same elements with different nucleon numbers or mass numbers due to different neutron
number.
Isotopes of Hydrogen:
Hydrogen
Atomic Mass 1
1 proton, 0 neutron, 1 electron
Tritium, an isotope of Hydrogen

Atomic Mass 2
1 proton, 1 neutron, 1 electron
Deuterium, an isotope of Hydrogen

Atomic Mass 3
1 proton, 2 neutrons, 1 electron
Isotopes of Carbon:
Isotopes: Identical Chemical Properties
Isotopes of the same element have identical chemical properties. This is because isotopes of the same
element have the same electron distribution. In other words, they have the same proton number and
same number of electrons.
There are two types of isotopes.

1. Stable isotopes
2. Unstable isotopes which is called radioisotopes
 Unstable isotopes due to extra neutrons in the nuclei which are radioactive.
 Examples: cobalt-60 used in radiotherapy treatment and uranium-235 used as a source of
nuclear power.
Use of Radioisotopes in industry (Note: Not carbon dating)
1. Detection of leaks
2. Monitor of thickness of paper production
3. Nuclear fuel for generating electricity
4. Radiographs of welds
5. Measuring wear
6. Sterilizing food (food preservation)
Use of Radioisotopes in Medical Practice
1. Medical treatment of cancer
2. Radiotherapy
3. Treatment of thyroid gland
4. X rays
5. Tracer studies in body
6. Sterilizing equipment
7. Locating tumours

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Chemistry

 An atom has a nucleus at the center containing neutrons and protons

How to identify atoms of different elements

Carbon has six (proton number) atomic number

Chlorine has 17 (proton number) atomic number

The relative mass of a carbon-12 atom = 12 ( 6 protons + 6 neutrons )

The relative mass of a hydrogen atom = 1 ( 1 proton + 0 neutron )

The relative mass of a magnesium atom = 24 (12 protons + 12 neutrons)

Sub-atomic Relative Mass Relative Charge Symbol

Electron 1/1837 amu -1 e-

An atomic structure of hydrogen element Hydrogen element written on a short way

Example 2: A helium element

Element Symbol Atomic Electrons Neutrons Nucleon

Chlorine atom, electron configuration: 2,8,7

Electron configuration means the arrangement of electrons in an atoms.

Electron Configuration/ Electronic Structure (first 20 atoms)

 All atoms of Period 1 have one shell

Tritium, an isotope of Hydrogen

Deuterium, an isotope of Hydrogen

There are two types of isotopes.

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