ATOMIC STRUCTURE

THE ATOMIC THEORY OF MATTER

Two theories prevailed among the Greeks
• Aristotle (4th century B.C.)
Believed matter is continuous, can be divided
into smaller parts
• Leucippus and Democritus
Subdivisions would ultimately yield

atoms which could not be further divided

A meaningful atomic theory was finally
published during the period 1903 - 1807
by John Dalton, an English school teacher.
Dalton designed this theory to explain
several experimental observations.
 Postulates of the Dalton’s Theory
1. Elements are composed of extremely small particles called
atoms.
2. All atoms of a given element are identical; the atoms of
different elements are different and have different
properties (including different masses).
3. Atoms of an element are not changed into different types of
atoms by chemical reaction; atoms are neither created nor
destroyed in chemical reactions.
4. Compounds are formed when atoms of more than one
element combine; a given compound always has the same
relative number and kind of atoms.
Atoms are the basic building blocks of
matter.
 Evidences of Subatomic Particles

CATHODE RAYS AND ELECTRON

Attempts to pass an electric current through a
vacuum led to the discovery of the cathode rays
by Julius Plucker in 1859
When high energy is impressed across these
electrodes, rays stream from the negative
electrode called the cathode.
Although the rays themselves could not be seen, their
movements could be detected because the rays cause
certain materials, like glass, to fluoresce or give off
light. This phenomenon is called fluorescence.
 Properties of cathode rays

1. They travel in straight line away

from the negative electrode unless
acted upon by an outside force.
2. They are negatively charged.
3. They consist of particles of
definite mass.
4. The nature of the cathode ray is the
same irrespective of:
a. the material of which the cathode
is made.
b. the type of residual gas present in
the evacuated tube
c.the kind of metal wires used to conduct current
to the cathode.
d. the materials used to produce the
current.
 
 Deflections of cathode rays
The rays are deflected from their usual straight path
in an electric field.

In 1897, Joseph Thomson determined the value of e/m for

the electron by studying the deflections of the cathode
rays in an electric and magnetic field. He was later hailed
as the discoverer of the first subatomic particle.
• e/m = -1.7588 x 108 coulombs/gram
Robert Millikan (1909) succeeded
in measuring the charge of an
electron by performing the
Millikan’s Oil Drop Experiment
e = -1.6022 x 10 coulombs
-19

m = -1.6022 x 10-19 coulombs

-1.7588 x 108 coul/gram
m = 9.10939 x 10-28 g
 THE PROTON
• Protons are positive ions which result when
one or more electrons are removed from a
neutral atom.
• Eugene Goldstein - first to observe the positive ions
called positive rays
• Wilhelm Wien (1898) and J.J. Thomson (1906)
studied the deflections of positive rays in an
electric and magnetic field
e = 1.6022 x 10-19 coulombs
m = 1.6022 x 10-19 coulombs = 1.6726 x 10-24 g
9.5791 x 104 coul/gram
 The Neutron
• Ernest Rutherford postulated the existence of
an uncharged particle in 1920

• James Chadwick published the result of his work

which established the existence of the neutron

m = 1.6749 x 10-24 g
 Comparison of the Proton, Neutron and Electron

Particle Charge Mass(amu) Mass(g)

Proton +1 1.0073 1.6726 x 10-24
Neutron 0 1.0087 1.6749 x 10-24
Electron -1 5.486 x 10-4 9.10939 x 10-28
 RADIOACTIVITY
• Wilhelm Roentgen found that when cathode
rays struck materials, a new type of invisible
ray was emitted which he called x-ray in 1895
• Henri Becquerel studied the phenomenon of
phosphorescence
• Phosphorescence is the phenomenon wherein
substances become luminous after exposure to
sunlight
• Radioactivity is the spontaneous emission of
radiation
Ernest Rutherford made further
studies on the nature of radioactivity
and his studies revealed three types of
radiation
• alpha radiation,α - much more massive than the β-particles and have
a positive charge rather than a negative charge
- has a charge of +2

• beta radiation, ß - high speed electrons and can be considered the

radioactive equivalent of the cathode rays
- has a charge of -1

• gamma radiation - high energy radiation similar to the x-rays

- does not consist of particles
 
 The Nuclear Atom

• J.J. Thomson proposed a model for the

structure of the atom and named his model
“Plum-pudding” model

• Ernest Rutherford, Hans Geiger, and Ernest

Marsden (1910) performed the “Gold Foil”
experiment to study the behavior of alpha particles
as they passed a thin foil of gold
Observations
a. The large majority of the alpha
particles passed through the foil.
b. Some were deflected from their straight-liner
path.
c. Few were recoiled back toward the source.

Rutherford postulated that most of the mass of

the atom and all its positive charges reside in a
very small, extremely dense region which he
called the nucleus
 The Modern View of the Atomic Structure

• the electron is given a charge of -1

• the proton is given charge of +1
• the neutron is uncharged
• atoms have equal number of electrons and
protons, thus they have no net electrical
charge
• protons and neutrons reside together in the
nucleus of the atom
 Isotopes, Atomic Numbers and Mass
Numbers
• An atom is identified by two numbers
1. Atomic Number, Z is the number of protons
in the nucleus
2. Mass Number, A is the total number of
protons and neutrons (collectively known as
nucleons) in the nucleus
• number of neutrons = A – Z
• number of electrons = number of protons = Z
•Example

•mass number = A = 209

•no. of protons = Z = no. of electrons = 83
•no. of neutrons = A – Z = 209 – 83 = 126
 
Isotopes are atoms of the same
element containing different number
of neutrons and therefore having a
different mass
• Mass spectrograph is used to determine the type
of isotope in an element, the exact atomic
masses of these isotopes, and the relative
amount of each isotope present
Atomic Weight is the weighted average of
the atomic masses of the natural isotopes
which is found by multiplying the atomic
mass of each isotope by its fractional
abundance and adding the values obtained.

The fractional abundance is the decimal

equivalent of the percent abundance.
Atomic mass unit (amu) or (u) is 1/12 of the mass of the carbon atom,

Determine the atomic weight of chlorine from this given data:

 
 

Isotope Mass,( u) Percent Abundance, %

1 34.97 75.53
2 36.95 24.47

Atomic weight = ∑(fractional abundance x mass)

= (0.7553 x 34.97 u) + (0.2447 x 36.95 u)
= 35.95 u
 PROBLEMS

1. Complete the table:

atomic atomic mass no. of no. of no. of

symbol number number, protons neutrons electron
,Z A s
Au   197 79    
K+1     19 20  
P-3   31   16  
2. Chromium, Cr has the following isotopic masses
and percent abundances. Determine the atomic
weight of chromium from this given data:

Mass number Mass, u Percent

abundance,%

50 49.9461 4.35
51 51.9405 83.79
52 52.9407 9.50
54 53.9389 2.36
3. Obtain the percentage abundances of for the
naturally occurring isotope of copper. The
masses of the isotopes are 63Cu, 62.9298 u;
65
Cu, 64.9278 u, respectively. The atomic
weight of copper is 63.546 u.
4. The atomic weight of boron is 10.81 u. From
the given data, calculate the mass of B-11.
Isotope Mass, u Fractional
abundance
B-10 10.013 0.1978

B-11   0.8022