Lecture 2

Welcome to Introduction to Engineering
Materials (ENME1EM)
Lecture 2
Atomic structure
Lectured by
Mr. Anthony Govender
School of Mechanical Engineering, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Introduction
• The chemical composition and the structure of a material significantly
affect the properties of a material.
• Hence the reason for engineers and material scientists to have a good
understanding of the atomic structure and bonding of the different
material classes. The structure of a material can be categorized into 5
categories:
➢Macrostructure, refers to structure of a material at a length scale > 1000
nm.
➢Microstructure, refers to the structure of a material at a length scale of
10 to 1000 nm. A typical microstructure of steel as viewed under a
microscope is illustrated on the right.
➢Nanostructure.
➢Short and long range atomic arrangements.
➢Atomic structure
Atomic structure
• An atom consists of a nucleus surrounded by electrons, as illustrated in the figure
on the right.
• Neutrons, which have a neutral charge and, protons which have a positive charge
are contained in the nucleus of the atom. The atomic number of an element is the
number of protons that are in the nucleus of the atom.
• Electrons have a negative charge, thus there is an electrostatic attraction force
between the electrons and the nucleus. Most of the mass of an atom is found in the
nucleus, as protons and neutrons have a greater mass the electrons.
• The manner in which electrons are arranged around a nucleus, is referred to as the
electron configuration of the atom.
• Electrons occupy positions in an atom, dependent on the energy level of the
electron.
• An atom contains Principal Shells, which electrons occupy. Each shell can only
contain a certain maximum number of electrons. For example, in the first Principal
shell there can be a maximum of 2 electrons, in the second shell only 8 electrons
can be contained, for the 3rd shell only 18 electrons, and so forth.
• The number of electrons of an atom that can participate in forming bonds, is
referred to as the valence of an atom.
• The tendency of an atom to gain an electron is known as the electronegativity of
the atom.
The Periodic Table of elements
Atomic size
• An atom can be regarded, as a sphere

with a definite radius.
• All elements do not have the same
atomic radius, as atomic radii differ
from element to element.
• Generally, the atomic radius of an
atom increases as the number of
Principal shells of an atom increases.
The Periodic Table
• The periodic table contains the elements that have been discovered, and information about the tabulated
elements.
• Typical information listed on a periodic table is atomic number, melting temperature of the element, atomic
mass, the element symbol etc. In the periodic table, elements are generally categorized as follows:
• Metals, Nonmetals and Metalloids.
• Metals are located at left and middle section of the periodic table (shown on the previous slide)
• On the right of the periodic table, are located the nonmetals. The metalloids are found on the periodic table
between the metals and the nonmetals.
• Elements in the periodic table are arranged in order of increasing atomic number, from left to right. For
example, hydrogen has an atomic number of 1, and is located on the left, helium which has an atomic number
of two, is found on the right of the table.
• The horizontal rows of the periodic table are called periods, and the vertical columns of the periodic table are
called groups.
• Elements that occur in the same group, generally have similar properties. For example, the elements of group
18, are noble gases, that are chemically inert (unreactive). Noble gases are the least reactive of all elements in
the periodic table.
Atomic bonding
• Atoms that are bonded, are more stable than atoms that are unbonded. In the bonded state there is
a decrease in the potential energy of the atoms.
• The bonds that are present in a material, have influence on the properties of the material, such as
the mechanical properties, heat conductivity, electrical conductivity etc. There are three classes of
atomic bonds i.e.
• Ionic bonds
These are nondirectional interatomic bonds, which have relatively high strength. The ionic bond occurs
when electrons are transferred from one atom to another, thus creating oppositely charged ions, that
attract each other by coulombic forces.
• Covalent bonds
These interatomic bonds are created by the sharing of electrons, and the bonds have direction.
• Metallic bonds
These are nondirectional interatomic bonds that are created, by the sharing of electrons.
Ionic bonds
1. Ionic bonds can form between metallic and nonmetallic
elements.
2. The electron transfer process between the two atoms, creates
positively charged ions (cations), and negatively charged ions
(anions).
3. An electrostatic force occurs due to the oppositely charged ions,
which bonds the atoms together.
A good example of an ionic substance is sodium chloride (NaCl).
• The sodium atom donates an electron to the chlorine atom, which
creates a positively charged sodium atom, and a negatively charged
chlorine atom.
• The formation on an ionic bond between sodium and chlorine is
illustrated in the figure on the right.
• The atom which donates an electron, experiences a reduction in
radius, whilst the atom which gains the electron experiences an
increase in radius.
• Ionic solids with high lattice energy have high temperature melting
points.
Covalent bonding
• In covalent bonding, atoms share their outer electrons, so that each
atom attains a noble gas electron configuration.
• A single covalent bond is formed when two atoms contribute one
electron that forms an electron pair bond.
• An example of a covalent bond is found in hydrogen gas, which is a
diatomic molecule. The covalent bond between two hydrogen atoms
is illustrated on the right.
• During the bonding of the two atoms, energy is released. Covalent
bonding also occurs in other gases such as F2 ,H2 ,N2 , O2
• Covalently bonded materials are very strong and hard, such as silicon
carbide, boron nitride etc., they also have high melting points.
• Due to the directional bonds, covalently bonded materials have
limited ductility.
• Water molecule which is made from two hydrogen atoms and one
oxygen atom, are also covalently bonded. This is illustrated on the
right. Note the angle between the bonds, which makes them
directional bonds.
Covalent bonding
Metallic bonding
• Metallic bonding occurs in solid metals. Atoms of a metal are generally arranged in
a specific pattern, referred to as a crystal structure. Crystal structures will be
covered in the next lecture.
• An example of a crystal structure is illustrated in the figure on the right.
• The atoms of the crystal structure, are packed very close together, such that the
valence electrons in each atom, are attracted by the nucleus of other neighboring
atoms.
• Thus, the electrons are spread out amongst neighboring atoms, forming a electron
cloud/electron gas, also referred to as a ‘sea of electrons’ in some literature. This
creates nondirectional bonds.
• An illustration of the sea of electrons, found in metallic bonding is illustrated in the
figure below.
• The valence electrons are weakily bonded to the nucleus of each atom, and thus
can easily move in the crystal structure.
• This characteristic of metals gives them high electrical conductivity and thermal
conductivity.
• This also allows metals to be able to be deformed significantly, as the electrons can
move without breaking the metallic bonds (non directional bonds).
• The presence of strong bonds also results in a metals having high elastic
modulus/Youngs Modulus.

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Welcome to Introduction to Engineering

• An atom can be regarded, as a sphere

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