Atomic Structure

Break Break
Matter
Atom
Kanad, 600 BC 10-10 meter
1 meter (1 angstrom)

• Elements are made of tiny particles called atoms.

• All atoms of a given element are identical.

• The atoms of a given element are different from those of any

other element.

John Dalton (1814) • Atoms of one element can combine with atoms of other elements
to form compounds. A given compound always has the same
relative numbers of types of atoms.
.
• Atoms cannot be created, divided into smaller particles,
or destroyed in the chemical process. A chemical reaction
simply changes the way atoms are grouped together.
Atoms are made up of 3 types of particles:

Electrons

Protons (It is 1840 times heavier than an electron)

Neutrons (Similar mass as that of a proton)

These particles have different properties.

Electrons are tiny, very light particles and have negative electrical charges (-).

Protons are much larger and heavier than electrons and have the opposite charges,
A proton has a positive (+) charge.

Neutrons are large and heavy like protons, however neutrons have no
electrical charge.
A Hydrogen Atom
 A Helium Atom

Ions
• Ions are formed by addition or removal of electrons from neutral atoms.

• Cations (removal of electrons from atoms).

• Anions (addition of electrons to atoms).

H+ cation
H-atom

H- anion
 Isotopes

• Two atoms with different numbers of neutrons are called isotopes.

• For example, an isotope of hydrogen exists in which the atom contains
1 neutron (commonly called deuterium).

Hydrogen
Atomic Mass = 1
Atomic Number = 1

Deuterium
Atomic Mass = 2
Atomic Number = 1

Since the atomic mass is the number of protons plus neutrons,

two isotopes of an element will have different atomic masses
(however the atomic number, Z, will remain the same).
 Plum Pudding Model
By 1911 the components of the atom had been discovered. The atom consisted of
subatomic particles called protons and electrons. However, it was not clear how these
protons and electrons were arranged within the atom. J.J. Thomson suggested the
"plum pudding" model. In this model the electrons and protons are uniformly mixed
throughout the atom:
 Rutherford's Planetary Model of the Atom

Rutherford tested Thomson's hypothesis by devising his "gold foil" experiment.

Rutherford reasoned that if Thomson's model was correct then the mass of the atom
was spread out throughout the atom. Then, if he shot high velocity alpha particles
(helium nuclei) at an atom then there would be very little to deflect the alpha particles.
He decided to test this with a thin film of gold atoms. As expected, most alpha particles
went right through the gold foil but to his amazement a few alpha particles rebounded
almost directly backwards.
These deflections were not consistent with Thomson's model. Rutherford was forced to
discard the Plum Pudding model and reasoned that the only way the alpha particles
could be deflected backwards was if most of the mass in an atom was concentrated in a
nucleus. He thus developed the planetary model of the atom which put all the protons
in the nucleus and the electrons orbited around the nucleus like planets around the sun.
 Limitations of Rutherford Model

There appeared something terribly wrong with Rutherford's model of the atom. The
theory of electricity and magnetism predicted that opposite charges attract each
other and the electrons should gradually lose energy and spiral inward.
Moreover, physicists reasoned that the atoms should give off a rainbow of colors
as they do so. But no experiment could verify this rainbow.
In 1912 a Danish physicist, Niels Bohr came up with a theory that said the
electrons do not spiral into the nucleus and came up with some rules for what
does happen. (This began a new approach to science because for the first
time rules had to fit the observation regardless of how they conflicted with the
theories of the time.)
 Atomic Spectra
• When one heats up a gas, it emits light of various wavelengths.

• The simplest spectrum is that for a Hydrogen atom.

• The spectrum of hydrogen is particularly important in astronomy

because most of the Universe is made of hydrogen.

• In 1885, Balmer discovered emission of H-atom in the visible region.

•TheBalmer Series involves transitions starting (for absorption)

or ending (for emission) with the first excited state of hydrogen.

•Soon,the Lyman Series was discovered that involves transitions

which start or end with the ground state of hydrogen (UV region)
 The Bohr Model (1913)

The orbiting electrons existed in orbits that had discrete quantized energies.
hat is, not every orbit is possible but only certain specific ones.

When electrons make the jump from one allowed orbit to another,
e energy difference is carried off (or supplied) by a single quantum of light
alled a photon) which has an energy equal to the energy difference between
e two orbitals.

The allowed orbits depend on quantized (discrete) values of orbital

ngular momentum, (L) according to the equation:

n= principle quantum number, 1,2,3…

h=Planck’s constant
Wave-Particle Duality

Wave-particle duality states that a particle such as an electron must also have
wave properties such as wavelength. In order to maintain a stable orbit, the
electron should have an integral number of wavelengths in its travels around the
nucleus. If the wavelengths do not match going around the circle, destructive
interference between the wavelengths causes the waves to disappear.
This observation led scientists to describe electron motion using equations for
wave motion.
Electron

+
de Broglie relationship (1924)

In 1924, Louis-Victor de Broglie formulated the de Broglie hypothesis,

claiming that all matter has a wave-like nature; he related wavelength,
λ (lambda), and momentum, p:

λ=h/p
What is the wavelength of an electron that has a velocity of 5.94×108 cm/sec
(electron accelerated through 100V) .
What is the wavelength of a man (70 Kg) walking at a velocity of 10km/hour.
Why don’t we have waves around us?

2005

Fullerene is the largest object known till

now that has an observable wavelength
(λ = 2.5 picometer)

C60
Uncertainty principle "The more precisely
(1927) the POSITION is determined,
the less precisely
the MOMENTUM is known"

The most common one is the uncertainty relation between position

and momentum of a particle in space:

Thus, for small particles like electrons or photons, it is not possible

to determine both the position and the momentum simultaneously
with the same accuracy.

This uncertainty leads to some strange effects. For example, in a

Quantum Mechanical world, I cannot predict where a particle will be with
100 % certainty. I can only speak in terms of probabilities. For example,
I can only say that an atom will be at some location with a 99 % probability,
and that there will be a 1 % probability it will be somewhere else (in fact, there
will be a small but finite probabilty that it can even be found across the Universe).
This is strange and very different from the macroscopic world that we live in.
 Failure of the Bohr’s Model:
•Consider an electron which has a mass of 9.1× 10-31Kg

• Let the electron be moving in the 1st Bohr orbit (radius=0.52 Å) in the hydrogen atom.

• It will have a momentum of 2×10-21 Kg cm/sec.

• To know this momentum within 1% accuracy, the uncertainty in momentum has to be

smaller than 2×10-23 Kg cm/sec.

• Then Δx will be 330 Å !! This is ~300 times the diameter of the 1 st Bohr radius.

• You cannot even say that the electron was within the atom at all !

Bohr’s shells become most probable position regions (orbitals) in Quantum Mechanics
Electronic Configuration of atoms
The electron configuration is the arrangement of electrons in an atom. The
electrons occupy specific probability regions, who's shapes and electron capacity
are denoted by the letters s,p,d,f.

s-orbital

p-orbital

d-orbital
Thank You