The Atomic Theory

The idea that matter is made up of super tiny particles

is not a new idea. The word atom came from the
ancient Greek term atomos which literally means
indivisible.

Over the years, our understanding of the atom has been
refined. Heres a quick view of the development of the
atomic theory.

John Dalton in 1803 pictured the atom as a solid,
indestructible sphere.

Joseph Thomson later discovered that the atom is NOT
indivisible but is actually made up of even smaller
particles. He discovered the electron and pictured them
as tiny negatively charged particles that are embedded
into a positive core.

Ernest Rutherford in 1911 discovered that the volume
of an atom is mostly made up of empty space.
According to his model, the mass of an atom is
concentrated at its center, which he called the nucleus.
This is the nuclear model of an atom.

Neils Bohr came up with the idea that electrons
travelled in orbits of varying distances from the nucleus.
We still use his model today to show the concept of
energy levels of electrons.

Erwin Schrodinger developed the quantum mechanical
model of the atom wherein the nucleus is surrounded
by a cloud which represents the probable location of
the electrons. This coincides with the Heisenberg
Uncertainty Principle, which states that it is impossible
to know both the momentum and position of an
electron.




The Atom

Atoms are building blocks. If you want to create a
language, you'll need an alphabet. If you want to
build molecules, you will need atoms of
different elements.

Atoms are made of three smaller particles:
1. The proton has a positive charge. It is relatively heavy
and is located at the nucleus of an atom. The number of
protons dictates what element the atom is.
2. The neutron has no charge. It is about the same mass
as the proton and is also in the nucleus. Protons and
neutrons make up most of the mass of an atom.
3. The electron has a negative charge. It is very small,
roughly 1/1800 the mass of the proton. Electrons
revolve around the nucleus of an atom.

The number of protons in an atom is the basis for its
atomic number. So, a hydrogen atom that has 1 proton
has the atomic number 1.

Atoms usually have a neutral net charge. Thats because
the number of positive protons is equal to the negative
electrons.
(Atomic number = protons = electrons)

The atoms mass is represented by the mass number. It
is not an actual measurement of weight. Instead it is
just the sum of the protons and neutrons of an atom,
since they comprise the majority of an atoms mass.
(Atomic mass number = protons + neutrons)

Element Protons Electrons Neutrons Atomic No. Mass
No.
Gold 79 79 118 79 197
Carbon 26 26 30 26 56

But sometimes, the atoms of a particular element have
different number of neutrons. For example, most of the
carbon atoms on earth have 6 neutrons. But there are
some carbon atoms which have 4 or 5 or 7 or 8.

Atoms of an element that have different numbers of
neutrons are called isotopes. In other words, these are
atoms of the same element that that different atomic
masses. Isotopes are identified by their atomic mass.

For example, carbon has 6 protons.
Carbon atoms which have 6 neutrons are called
Carbon-12 or
12
C. (6 protons + 6 neutrons)
Carbon atoms which have 7 neutrons are called
Carbon-13 or
13
C. (6 protons + 7 neutrons)

Carbon-12 and carbon-13 are both isotopes of carbon.
The mass number shown in the periodic table is the
average of the atomic mass of all the isotopes for that
particular element. That is why theyre not whole
numbers.


Electron Configuration

Electron configuration refers to the arrangement of
electrons in any given atom. Protons and neutrons are
relatively easy to locate since they are in the nucleus.
But electrons have always been a mystery to scientists.

Bohrs model of the atom introduced the idea of energy
levels which represented how wide the electrons orbit
is. Electrons at lower energy levels revolve near the
nucleus. Electrons at higher energy levels revolve
farther away.







Bohrs Model Quantum Mechanical Model

We now know that Bohrs model is inaccurate but we
still use energy levels to represent the volume occupied
by an electron cloud. So atoms with lower energy levels
with have a smaller electron cloud. And atoms with
higher energy levels with have a larger electron cloud.

The idea of electron orbits has also been replaced by
the newer concept of orbitals. Instead of orbits, similar
to those of planets around the sun, orbitals are shapes
of electron clouds. They are regions/spaces around the
nucleus with the greatest probability of finding
electrons.

There are four types of orbitals:
1. s-orbital (sharp) is a spherical cloud. The electrons
here have lower energy levels.
2. p-orbital (principal) is a dumbbell-shaped cloud.
There are three types of p-orbitals.
3. d-orbital (diffused) is more complex than s- and p-
orbitals. There are five types of d-orbitals.
4. f-orbital (fundamental) is the most complex in terms
of shape. There are seven types of f-orbitals.










Hydrogen, being the simplest element, having only one
electron, only has 1 s-orbital. Heavier elements like
Plutonium with 94 electrons consist of a combination of
all the different orbitals.

Each orbital has a maximum capacity of two electrons.

Figuring out the Electron Configuration of Atom

The electron configuration is represented by a number,
a letter, and a superscript (example: 3p
4
).
The number refers to the energy level.
The letter refers to the sublevel of orbitals.
The superscript is how many electrons are in the orbital.

So 3p
4
means that there are 4 electrons in the third
energy level with a p-shaped orbital.

Here is a mnemonic tool to help you figure out the
electron configuration of any atom.

Start at 1s
2
and simply
follow the yellow arrows
until you fill in all the
electrons for the given
atom.

The superscripts here are
the maximum capacity /
load of each sublevel.

s
2
can hold 2 electrons.
p
6

can hold 6 electrons.
d
10

can hold 10 electrons.
f
14

can hold 14 electrons.

Lets try it with the elements below. Remember that in
this case atomic no. is equal to the number of electrons.
Hydrogen(1) 1s
1

Helium(2) 1s
2

Lithium(3) 1s
2
2s
1

Carbon(6) 1s
2
2s
2
2p
2
Argon(18) 1s
2
2s
2
2p
6
3s
2
3p
6

Gold(79) 1s
2
2s
2
2p
6
3s
2
3p
6
4s
2
3d
10
4p
6
5s
2
4d
10
5p
6
6s
2
4f
14
5d
10
6s
1


Remember to fill up every lower sublevel first before
going to the next sublevel. That is known as Aufbau
principle which is a German term that means building
up or construction.

To avoid writing very long electron configurations, we
can make use of the Noble Gas Notation. The noble
gasses are Neon(AtmNo. 10), Argon(18), Krypton(36),
Xenon(54) and Radon(86).

These are useful because their last sublevels are always
at maximum capacity.
So, to write the Noble Gas Notation of Gold(79) we
should first find the noble gas element with the closest
lower atomic number. That would be Xenon(54). Radon
is closer but it has a higher atomic number.

We write Xenons atomic symbol in brackets.
Then we count through our mnemonic tool to see the
last sublevel for Xenon. Its 6s
2
.
We start writing the electron configuration after 6s
2
.

The result is Gold(79) = [Xe] 4f
14
5d
10
6s
1

So instead of writing 1s
2
2s
2
2p
6
3s
2
3p
6
4s
2
3d
10
4p
6
5s
2
4d
10

5p
6
6s
2
, we just use the equivalent noble gas [Xe].

Another example, the electron configuration of
Bromine(35) in noble gas notation is [Ar] 4s2 3d10 4p5.

Orbital Notation

Another way to write an atoms electron configuration
is to represent the electrons using arrows. The opposite
direction of the arrows in any orbital symbolizes that
the electrons have opposite spins, as stated in the
Pauli Exclusion Principle.

Basically, instead of writing superscripts to indicate the
number of electrons in each sublevel, we write arrows
instead.

Hydrogen(1) 1s

Lithium(3) 1s 2s



Carbon(6) 1s

2s 2p


Always write 1 blank for the s sublevels, 3 blanks for p
sublevels, 5 blanks for d sublevels, and 7 blanks for f.
Even if some of them will be empty.

Each blank represent how many types of those orbitals
are in each sublevel. And each orbital can hold 2
electrons.

Notice how we distributed carbons 2 electrons in the
2p sublevel? Thats because of Hunds rule which states
that electrons enter each orbital first before pairing
together. So do not pair orbitals unless each orbital in
the sublevel is already occupied by one electron.
Identifying the Valence Electrons

The highest occupied energy level of an atom is called
the valence shell. And the electrons in that shell are
called valence electrons.

Valence electrons are important in determining how the
atom reacts chemically with other atoms.

Atoms are most stable when they have 8 Valence
electrons, also known as a closed shell. This is the octet
rule. Atoms react chemically with the atoms of other
elements to have a complete valence shell.

For you to know how many valence electrons an atom
has, simply add the electrons in the s and p orbitals in
the highest energy level.

Carbon(6) 1s
2
2s
2
2p
2
The highest energy level is 2 (2s
2
2p
2
)
Add the electrons in the s and p orbitals (
2
+
2
=4)
Carbon has 4 Valence electrons.

Argon 1s
2
2s
2
2p
6
3s
2
3p
6

(
2
+
6
=8) Argon has 8 valence electrons.

Gold 1s
2
2s
2
2p
6
3s
2
3p
6
4s
2
3d
10
4p
6
5s
2
4d
10
5p
6
6s
2
4f
14
5d
10
6s
1

(6s
1
= 1) Gold has 1 valence electron.

The Lewis Electron Dot Structure helps us represent the
valence electrons for any particular atom.







We also apply Hunds rule when writing the dots in the
LED structure. We fill up all sides with one electron first
before we pair them up.

The valence electrons are responsible for atoms
chemically bonding with other atoms to form molecules
and compounds.

An ionic bond occurs when atoms give or take
electrons. Their resulting net charge causes them to be
attracted to each other.

A covalent bond occurs when atoms share electrons to
fulfill the octet rule.
The Periodic Table of Elements