KASDI MERBAH-OUARGLA UNIVERSITY

Faculty of Hydrocarbons, Renewable Energies, Earth and Universe Sciences

Hydrocarbon Production Department
Module: Structure of material. Level: 1st year Oil and gas production.

Chapter II: Main (Principal) constituents of the atom

Introduction:
According to the atomic theory published in 1808, DALTON considered that the atom is a
particle and is an invisible and indivisible entity.
Indeed, various experiments have provided proof that atoms are not the ultimate
constituents of material, and that they are themselves made up of several types of elementary
particles.

II.1 Faraday experiment:

Figure 1 shows the distribution and movement of ions during electrolysis.

Figure 1: Movement of ions with electrolyze

Faraday's experiments suggest the existence of a relationship between matter and electricity. In
order to confirm this proposition, a very large number of measurements were taken by a
voltmeter. By establishing a relationship between the masses of products released by electrolysis
and the corresponding quantities of electricity. From these measurements, Faraday results in two
laws:

1- The mass of an element which appears at the electrode (released during a given time) is
proportional to the quantity of electricity which passes through the electrolysis during this
time.
2- The electrochemical equivalents coincide with the chemical equivalents, that are to say that
whatever the electrolyte used (monovalent, bivalent, trivalent, etc.), the quantity of electricity
which releases a chemical equivalent of a body is always the same.
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 For example, the amount of electricity required to decompose one mole of NaCl will be
equal to NA.q = 6.023 1023. 1.6 10-19 = 96486 coulomb this quantity is called Faraday.
And therefore: = 96500 C this quantity transforms any ion.

II. 2 - Highlight the constituents of material.

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Three very small elementary particles make up all the material in the universe. With these three
fundamental bricks we can “build” all the elements that exist. These fundamental particles were
discovered between 1875 and 1910, they are: the proton, the neutron and the electron, by:
Crookes (electron); cathode ray or discharge tube.
Goldstein (proton); atom + electrical energy → ion (+) + e- ;
exp: Ne → Ne+ (formation of positive ion) + e-
Rutherford (carrying out a first nuclear experiment):
14
N +4 He → 17
O +1 H (discovery of the proton)
Chadwick (neutron); by bombarding Beryllium with α particles. , he noted the appearance of
neutral penetrating radiation (neutron).
II.2.1 Electron:
a- Experience of Crooks (1869-1875):
CROOKES tubes - Cathode radiation:
- Description:
Exhaustive studies of the material were carried out by William Crookes during the second
half of the 19th century.
These studies were carried out using a discharge tube shown in the figure below.

- Operation:
The glass discharge tube contains a gas (air, Helium or Neon) at very low pressure (10-6 atm).

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When the voltage reaches 15,000 Volts the screen becomes fluorescent except in the shadow
area. It shows that this fluorescence is due to cathode radiation made up of negatively charged
particles; these are electrons.
An object (metal disc) placed on the path projects a shadow on the screen; the radiation, coming
from the cathode, propagates in a straight line (rectilinear trajectory).
A mill (light object), placed on the trajectory, begins to move: therefore the radiation is made up
of particles having kinetic energy, therefore a mass and a speed of movement.

- Noticed:
• Since these rays come out of the cathode they are called: cathode rays.
• When these rays come into contact with the glass, luminous points appear.
• Since these rays head towards the anode, these rays contain negatively charged species.

- Conclusion:
The atom contains negatively charged species called after CROOKES: Electron.
b- Experience of J.J THOMSON: measurement of the e/m ratio
A-1/ Description

The aim of this experiment is the qualitative and quantitative study of cathode rays:
*Qualitative study: direction of deviation of the cathode ray beam
*Quantitative study: determine equations of cathode beam motion and calculate the mass load
“e/m”.
- In the presence of an electric field:
When the cathode ray beam enters an electric field created by a capacitor made up of two
metal plates (+) and (-). At the exit of the electric field, the beam deviates towards the plate (+)
and a point A appears on the screen.
On a thin horizontal brush of cathode ray, each electron behaves like a body of mass m launched
horizontally with a speed v and submits to a constant electric force under the action of an electric
field

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The sum of forces applied to the electron is only the electric force, it is expressed by:

If the field is felt over a length L, the electron takes a time t for this move from one end to the
other:

; at the end of it it undergoes a vertical displacement:

(3), from (1), (2) and (3) we obtain:

d and L being determined experimentally, it remains to know the speed v to calculate the e/m
ratio.
- In the presence of a magnetic field:
When the beam of a cathode ray enters a magnetic field “ B" created by a magnetic magnet in
the form Ո constituted by two poles (North and South), the beam of a cathode ray deflects
downwards to describe a circular trajectory of radius:

- In the presence of an electric and magnetic field:

The simultaneous action of an electric field and a magnetic field ", by acting appropriately on the
intensities of E and B; we can arrange so that the brush of electrons is not deflected; under these
conditions and at every moment:

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c- MILLIKAN experiment: Determination of the charge e/m
-Device:
Purpose: determination of the elementary charge
Principle: Follow the movement of a droplet of oil within the MILLIKAN device.
Small droplets of oil are injected into the air-filled chamber. The droplets become electrically
charged when the gas is ionized by the action of X-ray radiation.

- In the absence of the electric field:

Definition: the STOCKS force is created during the movement of a microscopic body, it is
opposite to the direction of movement.
- Gravity: )

- Friction force (Stocks):

With :
ρ: Density of the oil
η: Viscosity coefficient of gas (air)
r: Radius of the droplet
v: Speed of the droplet

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g: Acceleration of gravity
The droplet quickly reaches a limiting speed (constant), the acceleration is then zero:

Avec:

- In the presence of the electric field:

The droplet experiences three forces (gravity, the storage force and the electric force).
- The droplet descends:

- The droplet rises:

The immobile droplet:

After several experiments MILLIKAN found that the charges carried by the droplet are multiples
of a certain value equal to: 1.6 * 10-19. q = n* 1.6 * 10-19 (eV).
q= n*e with “e” the elementary charge: e = 1.6 * 10-19 C.

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II.2.2- Proton:
a- Rutherford's Experiment (1919) Discovery of the proton:
In 1919, RUTHERFORD, by bombarding nitrogen atoms with α particles, noted the formation of
oxygen and a new particle which he identified with the hydrogen nucleus (hydrogen atom having
lost an e-) H+ or proton, the reaction nuclear energy carried out is as follows:

The proton carries an elementary charge > 0(+e), its mass is equal to 1836 times that of the
electron.
mp = 1.6724 10-27 Kg = 1.0076 a.m.u.
The mass of the proton is equal to 1836 times the mass of the electron

b- Goldstein experiment: highlighting the positive charge of the nucleus

Goldstein designed a rarefied gas cathode ray tube, composed of a pierced metal cathode. He
noticed that the emitted rays passed through the holes in the cathode and traveled in the opposite
direction to the cathode rays. Goldstein therefore deduced that these rays were positively charged
and called them channel rays because they passed through the holes as if through channels.
Special feature of these channel rays
A magnetic field deflected them in the opposite direction to the cathode rays.
Depending on the nature of the gas present in the tube, different q/m ratios were obtained
This ratio was significantly greater than that between the mass and charge of the particles
constituting the cathode ray
Channel rays were significantly heavier than electrons

II.2.3. Neutron
Chadwick's experiment: demonstration of the neutron existing in the nucleus
The neutron itself was discovered by Chadwick (1932) by bombarding light atoms such as
beryllium, boron or lithium with (α) particles according to the following nuclear reaction:
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4𝐵𝑒 +α 12 + 1𝑛 (neutron)
The study of nuclear reactions also led to the discovery of neutrons. By subjecting light atoms
like beryllium to the action of an α particle, neutral penetrating radiation appears, as illustrated by
this nuclear reaction:

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This radiation is made up of electrically neutral particles: neutrons. The mass of the neutron is
1836 times greater than that of the e-; SO : mn =1836 me = 1.6747 10-27 Kg = 1.00866 u.m.a, we
note that: mn ≈ mp

- Some physical properties

We see that the proton and the neutron have approximately identical masses:
mp / mn =1.67 10-27 Kg.
L’électron est une particule beaucoup plus légère, sa masse est approximativement 2000 fois
plus faible que celle du proton ou de neutron (mp /me- = 1833).

II.3. Rutherford planetary model

- The mass of atoms:

Normally the mass of an atom should be able to be calculated simply by adding the masses of
these various constituents:

the mass of electrons is very small compared to that of neutrons or protons, so we can neglect it.

With Z+N= A (mass number).

- Atomic mass unit (a.m.u)

This unit of mass adapted to the study of microscopic objects is defined as being one twelfth of
the mass of the carbon atom (12C). A mole of carbon weighing by convention 12g and
corresponding to N atoms of carbon 12. Then the mass of an atom can be deduced as follows:
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1mole → 12 g → 6.023* 1023 atoms (NA)
m (12C atom) → atom ⇒ matome C = 12 /N g.
So, a carbon-12 atom weighs 12/NA and the atomic mass unit is:

There is therefore a direct correspondence between the mass of an atom in m.a.u and its
23
molar mass in g. 1u.m.a = 1/N g = 1/ 6.023*10 = 1.66 10-24 g = 1.66 10-27 Kg. As we
have just seen, the mass of the proton (or that of the neutron) is precisely practically equal to this
mass of 1.67 10-27 kg.
So mp = mn =1 .m.a.u and like: ma = 1.67 10-27 Kg (Z+N) = 1.67*10-27 Kg A = A
a.m.u.
We conclude that the mass of the atom expressed in (a.m.u) or its molar mass expressed in g is
practically equal to its mass number.
Example: For an atom the unit of mass is m.a.u.
For a mole of atoms the unit of mass is g. => We give: 16 (≈15.994)O
The mass of an oxygen atom equal to 15,994 m.a.u or the mass of one mole of an atom of oxygen
is equal to 15.994 g.
1 mole → 12 g → 6.023*10 23 atoms (N)
m(12C atom) → 1 atom ⇒ matome 12C = 12 /N g.

II.4. Characteristics of the atom:

A
The atom is represented as follows: ZX

The atomic number Z is the number of protons Z also designates the number of electrons
surrounding the nucleus. The charge of the nucleus is (+Ze) and the total electron charge is –Ze.
Each atomic number corresponds to an element.
The mass number A is the number of nucleons, or the sum of the number of protons and the
number of neutrons.
The two numbers A and Z are integers; they characterize an atom or its nucleus. A given kind of
nucleus is called a nuclide or nuclide; a nuclide is therefore by definition a nucleus with a
determined mass and charge.
Example: determine the number of neutrons in the oxygen atom: 16 8O => N= A-Z => N=8.
II.5. Isotopes
Atoms can have the same atomic number Z and different mass numbers A, we say that
they are isotopes of the same element.

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Atoms can have the same atomic number Z and different mass numbers A, we say that they are
isotopes of the same element.
Exp:

(normal hydrogen: A=1, Z=1, N=0), (deuterium, Z=1, A=2,

N=1), + (tritium, Z=1, A=3, N=2).
II.5.1. Relative abundance of different isotopes
We have just seen that the same atom could correspond to various isotopes which only differ
from each other by the number of neutrons present in the nucleus. We could therefore a priori
imagine an infinity of different isotopes for each element.
Natural abundance is the percentage in number of atoms of each of the isotopes present in the
natural mixture.
This natural abundance could be measured and can be found in tables. We accept that the natural
abundance of each isotope is always the same regardless of the origin of the sample studied.

II.5.2. Molar mass of the element

As an element is made up of a mixture of various isotopes and the proportions of these various
isotopes are constant, we will be able to define for each element an average molar mass which
will take into account its composition,

With, Xi: designating the natural abundance of the isotope i of molar mass Mi.
Example: Magnesium has 3 isotopes:

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFoMoif_2bg&t=11s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILKf0r34m3E

II. 6. Séparation and determination of atomic masses and isotopic abundance.

The atomic masses of isotopes and their abundances are determined using the mass spectrometer.
This device is now used to elucidate the structure of a substance by introducing it directly into the
device.

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To determine the mass of an atom, the most practical method is to measure the ratio 𝑞/ M of the
ionized atom, q being the charge of the ion, and M its mass, the devices used are mass
spectrometers, they measure the ratio 𝑞/ 𝑀
, there are several types of spectrometer among them: the Bainbridge spectrometer. This
spectrometer includes
1- the ionization source 2- the speed filter
3- the analyzer 4- the ion detector

Schematic diagram of the Bainbridge spectrometer

The ion source:
A jet of electrons emitted by a heated filament positively ionizes the atoms of a gas
The speed filter:
Receives ions moving at different speeds. The latter are subjected to the simultaneous action of
an orthogonal electric field and magnetic field:
If v is the speed of an ion,q, its charge, it will then undergo the effect of two forces:
The electric force 𝐹𝑒→ = q . 𝐸→ (1)

The magnetic force F→ = 𝑞. 𝑣→ ˄ 𝐵1→ = q. v. B (2) because 𝑣 → ⊥ 𝐵1

The two forces are parallel and in opposite directions, hence: 𝑞. 𝐸 = 𝑞. 𝑣. 𝐵1
The ion beam leaving the velocity filter is therefore monokinetic and 𝑣 = 𝐸/ 𝐵1 (3)
c- The analyzer:
In this part of the device, an ion of mass M is subjected to a constant magnetic field of induction
B2 directed perpendicular to its trajectory. The ion is then deflected along a circle of radius such
that: 𝐹 𝑚 = 𝐹 𝐶

𝐹m being the magnetic force and 𝐹C→ the centrifugal force:

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 d- The detector
The deflected ion impresses a photographic plate. The detector collects the ions and
amplifies the signal, then a computer system transforms the information received into a mass
spectrum.

Figure: Mass spectrum of neon

II.7. Energy of binding and cohesion of nuclei

II.7.1. Binding energy (E):
Energy necessary for the formation of any nucleus from these nucleons (P+N).
The formation of the nucleus is described by the following reaction: Z + N → A ZX + (E < 0). The
formation of a nucleus generally requires negative energy.

II.7.2. Cohesion energy (B):

Energy necessary for the destruction of a nucleus made of these constituents (N+P) according to
A
the reaction: ZX + B  Z + N, this energy is positive and we can write: B = -E.

II.7.2.1. Cohesion energy per nucleon:

If we divide the cohesion energy of a nucleus by the number of nucleons (A= N+Z), we obtain
the cohesion energy per nucleon. In general, the cohesion energy per nucleon is less than 8.9 Mev
whatever the element considered. We can plot on a diagram called the Aston curve the graphic
representation of this average cohesion energy as a function of the number A of nucleons.

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 We observe the extremes, Hydrogen releases 0.3 MeV per nucleon while Iron releases
nearly 9 MeV but from Helium (except Li and its isotopes) we are at more than 7 MeV. Most
elements therefore have an energy between 7 and 9 MeV per nucleon. The fusion of light
elements (low energy like H at 0.3 MeV) to give heavier elements (like He at 7.1 MeV) releases a
lot of energy and this is what happens in the sun.
The difficulty consists of being in conditions such that the rapprochement and then the
fusion of the atoms is possible (high temperature and pressure; like in the center of the sun).
Elements with mass numbers between 40 and 60 are the most stable (K, Ca, S, Ti, Cr, V, Fe, Mn,
Ni, Co).
This cohesion energy is of the order of MeV/nucleon (1MeV =106 eV = 1.6 10-13
J). The curve obtained presents a maximum around A = 60, the corresponding atoms
being the most stable atoms that exist. The slope of the Aston curve is very significant for the
zone of "light" atoms of A < 15. On the side of the "heavy" atoms of Z > 15 this slope is much
gentler. Atoms whose average binding energy is low (of E / Z < 7.5 MeV / nucleon) will seek to
stabilize and approach the zone of maximum stability around Z = 60. Two different processes are
possible ( light atoms: fusion and heavy atoms: fission).
We understand that if fusion releases energy, fission (breaking the heaviest elements
which have a value of around 7.5 MeV into lighter elements which have a value of around 8
MeV) releases energy but it is less than in the case of fusion.

II.7.2.2. Theory of relativity (EINSTEIN equation):

The notions of mass and energy always remain in line: disappearance of mass => addition of
energy and disappearance of energy => addition of mass. Hence: E = Δm * C2 ; ( C: celerity or
the speed of light, C= 3,108 m/s).
Noticed:

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The mass of the nucleus is always less than the sum of the masses of these constituents. There is a
loss of mass Δm which is transformed into energy with: E = Δm * C2.
When we create a nucleus, Δm is negative, Δm = disappearance of mass = mass defect.
Δm = m nucleus - (Z*mproton + N*mneutron) < 0 ; We then speak of bond energy.
When we decompose (destroy) the nucleus into these nucleons, Δm is positive,
Δm = (Z*mproton+N*mneutron) - mnucleus > 0; We then speak of the cohesion energy.
II.7.3. Definition of the electron volt:
The electron volt (eV) is the energy acquired by an electron accelerated by a potential difference
(d.d.p) of 1 volt. From where:
1 eV= 1.6 10-19 Coulomb (c)* 1 Volt (V) = 1.6 10-19 joule (J).

II.7.4. Energy of one a.m.u (1 a.m.u)

E = Δm * C 2, Δm =1 a.m.u = 1.66 10-27 Kg => E = 1.66 10-27 Kg * (3*108) (m/s)2 =>
E=14.94 10-11J.
1Ev = 1.6 10-19J => E = (14.94 10-11)/(1.6 10 -19)= 933 106 eV => E = 933 MeV, Hence:
1a.m.u. = 933 MeV.
Exercise :
1- Determine the number of protons, neutrons and electrons in the deuterium nucleus.
2- Determine the cohesion energy of the deuterium nucleus per MeV/nucleus, per MeV/mole of
atom and per MeV/nucleon. We give: mn = 1.008665 a.m.u,
mp =1.007277 a.m.u and mnucleus =2.014102 a.m.u
Solution :
1- Deuterium ( 2 1H: Z = 1, A = 2 => N = A - Z = 2-1 = 1).
2- E = Δm * C 2 => Δm = (Z*mproton + N*mneutron) - mnucleus
E = [(Z*mproton + N*mneutron) - mnucleus ]* C2 By (MeV/atom (nucleus))
E = [(1.007277+1.008665)-2.014102]*9 1016 u.m.a m2/s2
= 0.00184 *1.66 10-27 kg *9 1016 m2/s2
= 2.75 10-13 J/nucleus = (2.75 10-13 ) / (1.6 10-19)
= 1.72 106 Ev = 1.72 MeV/nucleus. By (MeV/mole of atom)
E=[(1.007277+1.008665)-2.014102]*9 1016 u.m.a m2/s2
= 0.00184*10-3 g/mole *9 1016 m2/s2 = 16.56 1010 J/mole
= (16.56 1010)/(1.6 10-19)= 10.35 1029 eV= 10.35 1023 MeV/mole of atom.
Verification E nucleus
1 atom → 1.72 MeV/atom.
6.023 1023 → E ⇒ E= 6.023 1023 * 1.72 = 10.35 1023 MeV/mole

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By (MeV/nucleon).
E nucleon = Enucleus / A = 1.72 / 2 = 0.86 MeV / nucleon

II.7.3. nucleus stability

The atom is made up mainly, according to Rutherford, of vacuum and all of its mass is
concentrated in an infinitely small volume “nucleus”.
We can simply explain this fact by considering that the positively charged protons repel each
other, the addition of neutrons stabilizes the nuclides by a "dilution" effect of the positive charges
which, being further away from each other, will tend to repel each other less. Note that the fact
that the nuclei of atoms are stable necessarily implies the existence of forces of greater intensity
than that of Coulomb's electrostatic force which, if it were alone, would destroy the nucleus. The
ratio between the number of protons and the number of neutrons is the main factor which will
determine the stability or instability of a given nuclide.

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