Structure of the Atom

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Edustudy point
Structure of Atom: Atoms are made up three of subatomic particles: electrons,
protons and neutrons.

• Electrons have negative charge, protons have positive charge and neutrons are neutral
(no charge) in nature.

• Protons and neutrons are present in small nucleus at the centre of the atom.

• Whole of mass of atom is concentrated in the nucleus while the electrons, which are
outside the nucleus, have very small mass.

• Electrons are found outside the nucleus. The electrons move around the nucleus in
fixed circular orbits called energy levels or shells.

➢ Discovery of Electrons: (by J.J. Thomson (1897))

• J.J. Thomson discovered electrons by passing electricity through a gas at high

voltage. This produced streams of particles from the cathode (negative electrode),
called cathode rays.
• Cathode rays are made of small, negatively charged particles called electrons.
• Since all gases produce cathode rays, it was concluded that all atoms contain
electrons.

Electron Facts:

- Electrons are represented as e⁻.

- Charge on an electron = -1.6 x 10⁻¹⁹C.
- Relative charge = -1.
- Relative mass = 1/1836 u, and absolute mass = 9 x 10⁻²⁸ g.

➢ Discovery of Proton
• The existence of protons in the atoms was given by Goldstein.

• When electricity was passed at high voltage through a gas at a very low pressure in a
discharge tube, streams of heavy particles were given at anode (positive electrode).
These streams of particles are called as anode rays.

• These particles were positively charged and the anode ray particles depend on the
nature of the gas taken in the discharge tube.
 Note: - The mass and charge of the anode ray particles depends on the nature of the
gas taken in the discharge tube.

• They are named as protons which are positively charged and it is found in all the
atoms. Protons are represented as p+.

• Mass of proton is equal to the mass of hydrogen atom.

o Therefore relative mass of proton is 1u.

o Absolute mass of proton is 1840 times that of the electron.

• Charge on proton is equal and opposite to the charge of the electron.

• The charge on proton = 1.6 x 10-19

• Relative charge is (+1) and the absolute mass of electron is 1.607 x 10-24

➢ Discovery of Neutron
• James Chadwick in 1932 discovered the neutrons which are the
neutral part found in the nucleus of an atom.

• Atoms of all the elements contain neutrons except ordinary

hydrogen atom which does not contain any neutron.

• Symbol for neutron is “n”.

• neutron is not present in hydrogen atom.

• Mass of a Neutron :-

o The relative mass of neutron is 1u. The mass of neutron is equal to the mass of
proton.

o The absolute mass of neutron is 1.6 x 10-24

• Charge of a Neutron:-

o Neutron has no charge. And It is electrically neutral.

• Atomic Mass of Carbon = Mass of 6 protons + Mass of 6 neutrons

= (6 x 1) + ( 6x 1)

= 12u
Thomson’s Model of The Atom:
• Thomson was the first to propose a model of the atom.
• At that time, only electrons and protons had been discovered.
• His model is likened to a Christmas pudding, where
electrons are like currants in a positively charged sphere.
• It can also be compared to a watermelon.
• Key points of Thomson's model:

1. An atom is a sphere of positive charge with electrons

embedded in it.
2. The positive and negative charges balance out, making the atom electrically neutral.
3. Thomson’s model explained the electrical neutrality but failed to explain the
various experiments carried out by other scientists like Rutherford.

Rutherford’s Experiment:
Alpha particle

• An alpha particle has a positive charge (+2) and a mass of 4 units. It's essentially a
helium ion (He²⁺).
• Rutherford's Alpha Particle Scattering Experiment discovered the nucleus by
shooting fast-moving alpha particles at a thin gold foil (about 1000 atoms thick). The
results:

1. Most particles passed straight through.

2. Some particles deflected at small angles.

3. A few particles bounced back.

Conclusions:

1. Most of the atom is empty space.

2. The positive charge is concentrated in a tiny space.

3. Electrons move in circular paths around the nucleus.

4. The atom's mass and positive charge are in the small, dense nucleus.

5. It shows the presence of a nucleus in the atom that is Positively charged, dense,
and very small compared to the atom.
Drawbacks of Rutherford’s Model:

o It couldn’t explain the atom's stability.

o According to electromagnetic theory, moving electrons should lose energy and fall into
the nucleus.
o If this happened, atoms wouldn’t be stable, but they are known to be stable.

Bohr’s Model of Atom:

• According to Neil’s Bohr the electrons could revolve around the nucleus
in only certain orbits known as discrete orbits of electrons, each orbit
having different radii.

• When an electron is revolving in a particular orbit around the nucleus

the electron does not radiate energy.

• Bohr’s model of an atom can be described as follows:-

a) An atom is made up of three sub-atomic particles – protons, electrons, neutrons.

b) The protons and neutrons are located in a small nucleus in the centre of the atom.

c) The electrons revolve around the nucleus rapidly in fixed circular paths called energy
levels or shells.

d) There is limit in the number of electrons that each shell

can hold. It is given by the formula 2n2, where n = orbit
number or energy level index.

e) Each energy level is associated with a fixed amount of

energy. A few energy levels in atom

f) There is no change in the energy of the electrons as long as they keep revolving in the
same energy level, and the atom remains stable.

Atomic Number and Mass Number:

• Atomic number: -

o Atomic number constitutes the total number of protons which are present in
the nucleus of that atom.

o It is denoted by ‘Z’.
 • Atomic mass:-

o Atomic mass is the total number of neutrons and protons which are present
inside the nucleus.

o Mass of electrons is not considered while calculating the mass of the atom and
only the mass of neutrons and protons are considered.

o Since the electrons are the lightest particles their mass is not considered.

o It is also known as Mass Number.

o It is denoted by ‘A’.

• Nucleons = Protons + Neutrons

where A = atomic mass
• General representation of the element: - (AZX) and Z = atomic number.

o For example:- Hydrogen 11H where atomic number=1 and mass number =1

o Oxygen 168O where atomic number=8 and mass number =16 (8 protons and 8
neutrons).

Isotopes and Isobars:

• Isotopes:- Nuclei with the same atomic number but different mass numbers. For
example, carbon has three isotopes(126C), (136C), (146C) . Isotopes share chemical
properties but have different physical properties. Chlorine has isotopes with masses
35u and 37u in a 3:1 ratio.

Applications:

1. Uranium isotopes are used as fuel in nuclear reactors.

2. Cobalt isotopes are used in cancer treatment.

3. Iodine isotopes are used to treat goitre.

• Isobars:- Nuclei with different atomic numbers but the same mass number. For
example, Nitrogen (147N) and Carbon (146C) both have a mass number of 14 but
different atomic numbers (7 and 6). They have the same total number of nucleons.

Arrangement of electrons in the atoms:

1. The number of electrons in each shell follows the rule:
 • Maximum electrons = 2n², where "n" is the shell number (n = 1, 2, 3...).

For example:

- K-shell (n = 1) can hold 2 electrons.

- L-shell (n = 2) can hold 8 electrons.

- M-shell (n = 3) can hold 18 electrons.

- N-shell (n = 4) can hold 32 electrons.

2. The outermost shell can hold a maximum of 8 electrons. Schematic atomic structure of
the first eighteen elements
3. Electrons fill the inner shells first, then the outer
shells.

Valence Electrons:
• Valence electrons are the electrons in the outermost shell of an atom. They determine
the atom's valency (ability to combine with other atoms).

Example: Sodium has an atomic number of 11, so its electron configuration is K (2), L (8),
M (1) & the M-shell is sodium's outermost (valence) shell, and it has 1 valence electron.

• Valence electrons participate in chemical reactions and are found in the outermost
shell.

Note:
• To find valence electrons, write the element's electron configuration using its atomic
number. The electrons in the outermost shell are the valence electrons.
• For metals, valency = number of valence electrons.
• For non-metals, valency = (8 - the number of valence electrons)

KHATAM