Dental materials 201

Chapter 1: structure of matter

Dr.Mohamed Tharwat

Whatsapp: 01117106115 - Mobile: 01153034025

Structure of matter
 Atom: it is the basic unit or the smallest building unit or the fundamentals unit of any matter

 Atomic structure:
 Nucleus (atomic nuclei or positive core) Contains:
1. Protons (positive charged) 2. Neutrons (no charge or neutral charge)
 Electrons: (Negative charged) rotates around the nucleus
 Atomic number: it is the number of negative electrons or number of +ve protons
 Atomic weight or mass: it is the number of Protons + number of Neutrons inside the
nucleus ( it affect density and specific heat with little effect on mechanical properties )
NB: electrical state of any atom should be neutral

Inert gases or noble gases: elements that have a filled outer most shell and have a stable
electron configuration (Neon, Argon, Hellium)

NB: elements that have unfilled valence shells try to reach stable electron configuration by forming a
bonds as (Ionic bond – covalent bond)

NB: Valence electrons: Electrons in the outermost shell, that control the chemical reactivity of the
element and type of bond (1, 2,3 Metals – 4 Metalloids – 5, 6, 7 Non metals - 8 Inert gas)

 Types of bonds between atoms:

Primary bond Secondary bond or force
intra molecular –interatomic) physical bond – inter molecular - van der Waals force

1. Ionic bond (electron transfer) 1. Temporary dipole or fluctuating induced dipole

2. Covalent bond (electron sharing) 2. Permanent induce dipole (hydrogen bond)
3. Metallic bond (free electron – electron cloud)

1. Primary Bonds (Inter atomic bonds – Intra molecular bonds):

- It is a strong bond due to chemical reaction between valence electrons of atoms.

2
A. Ionic bond (electron transfer): Example: (NaCl)
- Na 11: metals lose electrons in the last orbit (1. 2 .3) and become positive ions
- Cl 17: non metals recieve electrons in the last orbit (5. 6 .7) and become negative ions

Definition of ionic bond: It results from the electrostatic attraction between positive and
negative ions or electron transfer between metal to non metal

 ‘Characteristics’ of ionic bond ( ionic bond suspected to have):

1- Strong bond (high strength and high hardness)
2- Heat resistant (high melting point and low coefficient of thermal expansion)
3- Electrical and thermal insulator in the solid state
4- Insoluble in organic solvents example (acetone - alcohol)
5- Soluble in ionizing solvents (water) and become good thermal and electrical conductor in
the liquid state
6- Main bond in ceramic and glasses - NaCl
7- Non directional
8- Brittle

B. Covalent bond (electron sharing or electron pair): example H2 or Cl2 or H2o

- No negative and positive ions but electron share between adjacent atoms these electrons
spend most of time in the region of overlap or sharing of electron of overlap
- - It may be single or double or triple according to the number of sharing electron

-
-
 ‘Characteristics’ of Covalent bond ( Covalent bond suspected to have):
1- Strong chemical bond (high strength andhigh hardness)

3
 2- Heat resistant (high melting point and low coefficient of thermal expansion).
3- Electrical and thermal insulator
4- Insoluble in ionizing solvents ( water)
5- Soluble in organic solvents example (acetone - alcohol)
6- Main bond in polymers
7- Directional (electrons spend most of time in the region of overlap)
8- Brittle

NB: Covalent bond may be very strong as diamond or very weak as polymers

C. Metallic bonds: ( free electrons-electron cloud )

- Attraction between positive cores and negative free electrons cloud.
- Metal atoms easily give up their valence electrons so, metallic bond have free electrons
(electrons cloud, mobility of valence electrons, electrons sea)*

 ‘Characteristics’ of metallic bond

a- High mechanical properties (High strength & hardness)
b- High heat resistant (high melting point and low coefficient of thermal expansion)
c- Good electrical & thermal conductors due to prescence or movement of free
electrons*
d- Opaque due to absorption of light by free electrons (prevent passage of light)
e- Luster or lustrous because free electrons re-emits absorbed light *

f- Basic bond for metals (Gold –nickle – cobalt– copper - amalgam)

g- Ductile due to dislocation movement

4
  Comparison between Primary bonds:

Ionic bonds Covalent bonds Metallic bonds

Def: Electrostatic attraction Sharing of valence Attraction between positive cores
electrons between two and negative free electrons
between negative and
atoms (Valence electrons)
positive charged ions NB: positive cores in metals
formed of atomic nuclei *
Examples: (NaCl) (H2), (H2O) Found only in metals
Main bond Ceramic and glass Polymers * Metals
in:
Characteri High strength High strength High strength
zed by or High hardness High hardness High hardness
High melting point High melting point High melting point
suspected Low thermal expansion Low thermal expansion Low thermal expansion
to have: ** Insoluble in organic Insoluble in water Insoluble in organic solvents
solvents but soluble in solvents but soluble in Non directional
water organic solutions
Non Directional Directional
Thermal Insulators (Non- Conductors)? Due to absence of free Metals are good Thermal
electrons clouds which is responsible of thermal Conductors?
and conductivity * Due to presence of free electrons
electrical NB: Ionic bond is electrical conductor in the molten state cloud or electron sea or mobility of
conductivi valence electrons
ty : Metals are paque (due to
absorption of light by free
electrons)
Metals are luster because
electrons re-emits light

5
 2. Secondary Bonds: (Inter-molecular bond or van der Waal forces)
- It is a weak bond formed by physical attraction between molecules

Permanent dipole (hydrogen bond) Fluctuating dipole

Def: Van der Waals forces result from polarization of molecules to form dipole (It is a
physical attraction between the opposite poles)
Main bond Water molecules Inert gas
in:
Characterize Low strength
d by or Low hardness
Low melting point
suspected High thermal expansion
to have: * Soluble in organic solvents
NB: for secondary bond to occur dipole must be formed

Atomic solid Molecular solid

Propertie Primary bond exists between atoms Primary bond exists between atoms, while
s and molecules (high strength and secondary bond exists between molecules
hardness) (low strength and hardness)
Example Diamond Polymers

6
 II- Structure of Solids

 Solids classified according to the arrangement of atoms into:

1- Crystalline solid: regular or ordered arrangement of atoms with repetition in space
lattice
2- Amorphous solids: arrangement of atoms without specific shape and without
repetition*

1- Crystalline solids:
- Atoms are regulary arranged in space lattice
- Space lattice: arrangement of atoms in 3 dimensions shape so that every atom has position
similar to every other atom
- Unit cell: the smallest repeating unit that is contained in the crystals
- There are 14 crystal lattice

a- Cubic system
 Simple cubic system (S.C.S)
Number of atoms = 1 Atom
 Body centered cubic system (B.C.C)
Number of atoms = 2 Atom
 Face centered cubic system (F.C.C)
Number of atoms = 4 Atom
b- Hexagonal system
 Simple hexagonal system
Number of atoms = 3 Atoms
 Hexagonal close-packed structure (H.C.P)
Number of atoms= 6 Atoms

 Atomic packing (APF):

7
 - It is the fraction of space of the structure unit occupied by atoms
volume of atoms inside unit cell
- Atomic packing factor = volume of unit cell

NB: The higher the atomic packing factor for the crystalline solids the higher the density

 Compare between crystalline & amorphous structure *

Crystalline solids Amorphous solid

Regular arrangement of unit cells with repetition No regular arrangement of unit cell may have some
regularity but no repetition
Has definitive melting point Has melting range *
Has low energy Has high energy
Isotropic and can be detected in xray Non isotropic and can not be detected in xray
Examples: metals, gypsum, sodium chloride, silica Examples: glass, polymers, gases and lquids

Theoritcal strength of crystalline structure is higher than their actual strength due to
crystal imperfections, Why? due to crystal imperfections

 Crystal imperfections
1- Point defect
- It may be vacancy or impurity between atoms
- Impurity may be substitutional or interstitial

2- Line defect
- Dislocation movement: displacement of a row of atoms
from their normal position in the lattice

3- Plane defects
- It’s the grain boundaries in metals

8
  Polymorphism
- Polymorphic materials are these that can exist with more than one crystal structure by
changing the surrounding physical condition. The polymorphic forms have the same
chemical reactions but different physical properties.
 Allotropy: occurs in crystalline inorganic materials  silica
 Isomerism: occurs in amorphous organic material natural rubber & gutta percha

 Silica (Sio2)
- Polymorphic form of silica in natureQuartz, Tridymite, Cristobalite
 Types of allotropic (silica) transformation
1- Reconstructive transformation
- Quartz(hexagonal) 867 Tridymite(rhombohedral)1470Cristobalite(cubic)1713Fused
→ → →

silica(amorphous silica)
2- Displacive transformation
- Transformation from alpha to beta forms with an expansion only without breakage of
bonds
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9
 Compare between reconstructive & displacive transformation *

Reconstructive transformation Displacive transformation

Bond breakage following by reconstruction of No bond breakage only displacement of

new space lattice atoms leading to expansion of space lattice

Need high thermal energy Need low thermal energy

Slow transformation Rapid transformation

Irreversible reversible

Correlation between atomic structure & material properties

Material property Affected By:

 Density - Atomic weight-Atomic radius - APF

 Mechanical &Thermal properties - Bond strength  strong bond need high thermal
1- Melting & boiling points energy to separate  high melting point

2- Coefficient of thermal expansion - Bond strength

- Inter atomic distance
- Its inversely proportional to melting point
3- Thermal conductivity - Prescence of free electrons (Nature of bond)
4- Electrical conductivity - Prescence of free electrons (Nature of bond)
5- Mechanical properties (strength, - Bond strength
hardness)

10
 Chapter one questions

MCQ:

1- The basic or smallest unit of any matter is called

a- Protons b- neutrons c- electrons d- atoms
2- Strong bond leads to
a- Decreased strength & hardness
b- High melting temperature and thermal expansion
c- Low coefficient of thermal expansion
d- All of the above
3- Ionic bond formed by
a- Sharing of valence electrons
b- Attraction between positive cores & negative electrons cloud
c- Electrostatic attraction between positive ions & negative ions
a- All of the above
4- Secondary bonds (dipole bond) characterized by
a- Chemical
b- Strong
c- Thermal resistant
d- Inter-molecular
5- Ionic bonds characterized by
a- Low strength & hardness
b- Low melting temperature
c- High thermal conductivity
d- Chemical strong bond
6- Metallic bonds characterized by the following except:
a- Chemical c- high electrical & thermal conductivity
b- Strong d- translucency
7- Covalent bonds are:
a- Physical in nature c- Has high strength & hardness
b- Has low melting temperature d- Has high thermal & electrical conductivity

11
 8- Weak bond leading to
a- Increase hardness and melting point
b- Decrease hardness and melting point
c- Increase hardness and decrease melting point
d- Decrease hardness and melting point
9- Covalent bonds are mainly found in
a- Ceramics & glass
b- Metals
c- Polymers
d- All of the above

T&F
1- Covalent bonds have high thermal & electrical conductivity because of prescence of free
electrons
2- materials with weaker bonds have a decreased hardness and melting point
3- Electrical state of atom is positive
4- Atomic weight affects density & specific heat
5- Metallic bonds are thermal & electrical insulators
6- Coefficient of thermal expansion of material is inversely proportional to its melting
temperature
7- Secondary bonds characterized by high strength & hardness and high thermal resistance

12