Atomic structure

By Hollie Baldwin

Atomic structure is a complex concept which all stems from three di erent particles which are
protons, neutrons and electrons. Each of these particles plays di erent roles which all together
creates atomic structure. In this essay it will start from the basic consent of the atomic structure all
the way to the complex side of atomic structure and explanations of protons, neutrons, electrons,
quantum numbers, subshells, orbitals and isotopes.

Protons, neutrons and electrons are all subatomic particles and found in every single atom.
Without these subatomic particles atoms wouldn't exist meaning nothing in the world would exist
as atoms are found in everything. As well as these subatomic particles being what creates atoms,
they also provide structure, mass and shape to atoms. They also di er from each other by their
characteristics like charge and location of the particles.

Protons are subatomic particles that have a positive charge. The charge of this particle is
+1.6×10-19 and also has a mass of 1.675x10-27. Protons are located in the nucleus of an atom
which is found in every single basic cell structure. Neutrons are also a subatomic particle which
have a neutral charge which means that it has neither a positive or negative charge, however they do
have a mass of 1.675x10-27 which is the same atomic mass as a proton. For this reason, neutrons
are located in the nucleus alongside the protons as the particle has a neutral charge and equal
densities. The last subatomic particle found in an atom is electrons. Electrons have a negative
charge of -1.602x10-19 and are located in the orbital shells of an atom. As this particle has a
negative charge they are in orbit due to the attraction of the positively charged protons in the
nucleus. The charge of both protons and neutrons are opposite but due to every atom having the
same amount of each subatomic particle in each individual atom, the overall charge of the atom is
neutral as the charge is balanced out.

The orbital shells, where electrons are located, also provide stability and structure to the atoms. In
atoms there can be multiple up to hundreds of electron shells, this is because each electron shell has
a maximum number of how many electrons it can hold. Electron shells closest to the nucleus hold
the lowest amount of electrons and have a lower energy level. Any electron shell further away from
the nucleus has the capacity to hold many more electrons but also contains higher energy levels. An
example of electron shells and how many electrons they can hold would be the following, shell one
has the capacity to hold two electrons, shell two can hold eight electrons, shell three can hold 18
electrons and shell four can hold up to thirty two electrons. The shell continues to grow with
electrons and energy as they get further away from the nucleus, however the rst shell must be full
to capacity before the next shell lls with electrons.
To determine how many electrons a certain element may have, you can use the atomic number
found on a periodic table. The atomic number is the bottom number under the element and this
gives us the number of protons there are. Atomic mass is known as the amount of subatomic
particles in an element (Briticcana, 2023) As we already know, protons and electrons must be
equal, therefore this gives us the total electrons which then can determine the electronic
con guration by 2n2. In the periodic table, there is also another number above the element which
is the mass number. This provides us information on the number of protons and neutrons found
in this element.

If the electron outer shell of an atom is not complete, the atoms become ions which means the
charge of the atom is not neutral due there being one more electron or proton resulting in an
overall positive or negative charge of the atom. If the atom has lost an electron it becomes a
positively charged ion due to there being more protons than electrons. In comparison to this if the
atom gains an electron it becomes a negatively charged ion as there are more electrons than protons
so the charge is no longer balanced out.

Neutrons have a neutral charge therefore if an atom has a di erent amount of neutrons in the
nucleus it becomes an isotope. Isotopes are still the same element, however due to the changed
number of neutrons it a ects the atomic mass of an element whilst all the other properties of the
element remain exactly the same apart from the atomic mass that will be di erent. An example of
an isotope would be chlorine which has two isotopes, chlorine-35 and chlorine-37. Chlorine-35
nucleus contains 1 more neutron than protons - 17 protons and 18 neutrons. In comparison the
other isotope of chlorine, chlorine-37, consists of 17 protons and 20 neutrons. The only e ect
having a di erent amount of neutrons corresponds to the atomic mass.

Subshells are another element of atomic structure. They are the division of electron shells which
are separated by the electron orbitals (Helmenstine, 2019). There are three di erent subshells
which are labelled S, P and D and these all vary from each other. The rst subshell, S, will always be
spherical and will always be found in one of the electron orbitals and any following orbitals. The
second subshell, P, contains three pairs of electrons which will each di er from one another,
however this subshell will only rst be found in the second orbital shell and then any other
following orbitals. The last subshell, D, contains ve electrons and only found in shell three
onwards. Following on from the di erence in subshells, each individual subshell has di erent
energy levels. These energy levels increase pending on how far the electron shell is from the nucleus,
therefore S subshells would have the least energy as they are found in the rst shell compared to
subshell D that is rst found in the third shell. An example of the energy levels lowest to highest is
as follows, 1S-2S-2P-3S-3P-4S-3D.
Ionising energy is also another form of energy that is related to atomic structure. Ionising energy is
the total amount of energy that is needed to remove an electron from any molecule. When
calculating how much energy is required it must be measured in kilojoules per mole. When
removing the rst electron from any molecule, the ionising energy used to remove the rst electron
will produce a 1+ ion. Following this pattern, to remove the second electron with ionising energy a
2+ ion would be formed from a 1+ ion. This continues for every further electron removed by
ionising energy.

With ionising energy it can also be determined from the periodic table. The periodic table is a abe
of all elements order by atomic mass (C Pauling, 2020)On the periodic table the pattern of ionising
energy increases from left to right, meaning any element on the left side will have the lowest
amount of ionising energy compared to the right side which will have the highest amounts of
ionising energy. Linking on to isonsing energy, this can also be used to give us an idea on the
electronic con guration of the element. This can be done by using the information given when
ionising energy is used like the nuclear charge of an atom, the distance between the nucleus and
electron and lastly the shielding when using low amounts of energies in S orbital. We can use the
information gained from the ionising data to identify what element it is in the periodic table by the
atomic number. The information the atomic number gives us can directly show us which element
on the periodic table it is.

To conclude, Protons, neutrons and electrons all play a huge role in every atom. A simple term
becomes a very complex feature of an atom and how their charges and where they are located a ect
a cell. Atoms are neutral in charge due to the balance in charge as protons and electrons balance
each other out. A simple atom can become more complex in forms of isotopes and ions when
electrons or neutrons can be di erent in amount which a ects the atomic mass and reactivity of an
atom. Electron shells have maximum capacity and also become more reactive the further away they
are from the nucleus.

References:
Helmenstine A, (2019) Subshell De nition
https://www.thoughtco.com/de nition-of-subshell-605700 (Accessed 22/03/2023)

C Pauling (2020) Periodic table

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