Chapter 1 – Atoms and Elements

Glossary

Atom – It is the smallest particles of matter. It cannot be divided chemically.

Electron – It is one of the particles that make up an atom. It is negatively charged

Proton – It is one of the particles that make up an atom. It is found in the nucleus and is
positively charged.

Rutherford-Bohr Atomic Model – It is the representation of the atom as a very small

nucleus made up of positively charged protons, surrounded by negatively charged
electrons moving in defined orbits.

Neutron – It is one of the particles that make up the atom. With the proton, it forms the
nucleus. It has no electrical charge (neutral).

Simplified Atomic Model – It is a representation of the atom indicating the number of

protons and neutrons in the nucleus and the number of electrons in each the electron
shells.

Periodic classification – It is a way to group elements according to certain properties.

Periodic table of the elements – It is a visual presentation of the elements in groups

according to their physical and chemical properties.

Valence electron – It is an electron in the outermost shell of an atom.

Group – It corresponds to a column of the periodic table. The elements in a particular

group have similar chemical properties because they all have the same number of valence
electrons.

Period – It corresponds to a row of the periodic table. All the elements in a period have
the same number of electron.

Periodicity of properties –It is the repetition of patterns in properties from one period to
another.

Atomic number – It represents the number of protons in the nucleus of the atom. It
distinguishes one atom from another.

Relative atomic number – It is the mass of an atom measured by comparison with a

reference element, carbon-12.

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Isotope – It is an atom of an element with the same number of protons as another atom of
the same element but with a different number of neutrons.

Lewis Notation – It is a simplified representation of the atom, in which only the valence
electrons are illustrated.

Mole – It is a quantity equal to the number of atoms in exactly 12g of carbon-12.

Avagadro’s Number – It represents the number of entities in a mole: 6.02 * 1023 entities.

Various models of the atom:

1. Dalton (Billiard balls)
2. Thomson (Blueberry muffin)
3. Rutherford (nucleus)
4. Rutherford-Bohr (nucleus with rings)
5. Simplified model (neutrons)

Specifics of Dalton’s model:

1. Matter is composed of extremely tiny indivisible particles called atoms.
2. All atoms of a single element are identical.
3. The atoms of one element differ from those of another element.
4. Atoms of different elements can combine in fixed proportions to form
compounds.
5. Chemical reactions result in the formation of new substances.

Thomson
He experimented with cathode rays (electrons). He applied a voltage to empty gas tubes
called gas discharge tubes and found:

 It emitted a green glow on a fluorescent screen

 Turned a propeller placed in its path
 Was deflected toward a positively charged plate.

Rutherford
He did the infamous “Gold Foil Experiment”. He shot positively charged alpha particles
at a very thin piece of gold and found:

Observation Conclusion
Most of the alpha particles pass through the An atom is mostly empty space
gold foil without being deflected
Some alpha particles are strongly deflected An atom contains a very dense and very
or bounce back small nucleus

Some alpha particles were slightly The nucleus of an atom is positively

deflected charged

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Bohr – His model became known as the Rutherford-Bohr Model.
He focused on the emission spectrum of hydrogen.

 He assumed electrons were not randomly distributed, but instead occupied

specific orbits around the nucleus.
 Each orbit corresponds to a level of energy.
 When an electron receives energy is becomes “excited” and jumps to an orbit
farther form the nucleus.
 The electron rapidly returns to its original orbit, releasing the absorbed energy in
the form of light.

After Chadwick discovered the neutron in 1932, the Rutherford-Bohr model was refined
to become the Simplified Atomic Model.

Characteristics of atomic particles

Particle Symbol Electric Mass (g) Relative
Charge atomic mass
(u)
Electron e- Negative 9.109 *10-28 0.00055
Proton P+ Positive 1.673 * 10-24 1.007
Neutron n neutral 1.675 * 10-24 1.008

Periodic table

It contains 3 categories of elements:

Metals
Located left of the zigzag line.
Properties include lustre(shiny), ductility, malleability, and have relatively high melting
points, boiling points and densities. They good conductors of heat and electricity, are
solids at room temperatures and react with acids.

Nonmetals
Located right of the zigzag line.
Properties are the opposites of the metals. They are dull, non-ductile, non-malleable, and
have relatively low melting points, boiling points and densities. They are poor conductors
of heat and electricity, are solids, liquids and gases at room temperatures and do not react
with acids.

Metalloids
Located next to the zig zag line ( 7 elements).
Their properties are between the metals and nonmetals. Example Silicon

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It has lustre but is non-malleable (it crushes). It is a semi-conductor.
Families- Columns on the periodic table.

There are 8 main groups, corresponding to the number of valence electrons. Four of
them have names:

Alkali metals – Group 1, soft highly reactive metals. These must be stored in oil to
prevent them from reacting with the water in the air.

Alkaline Earth metals – Group 2, hard highly reactive metals that have high malleability
and burn easily in the presence of heat. These can be exposed to air and are found in may
compound in rocks or earth.

Halogens – Group 7, multicoloured solids, liquid and gases. These are highly reactive
and form salts easily. Some are powerful disinfectants, ie. chlorine.

Nobel gases (inert gases) – group 8, non-reactive colorless gases. They are very stable
and are found in their elemental state in nature.

Columns with boron, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen get their name from the element at the
top of the group.

Transition elements (B-group) are ignored.

Periods – Rows on the periodic table.

It is equal to the number of shells around a nucleus.

Periodic Trends:

As we move across the table, we see trends that repeat themselves across the next period:

Atomic radii – It decreases across the period.

Ionization energy (energy needed to remove outermost electron)

Electronegativity (The ability of an atom to attract electrons and form a bond)

– Both increase across the period.

MP, BP and density – It is highest in the centre of the period.

Chemical Reactivity – A different trend for metals and non-metals.

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Isotopes:

They are chemically the same as the other atoms of the same element but have different
physical properties (mass).

H–1 hydrogen 1 proton, 1 electron, no neutrons

H–2 deuterium 1 proton, 1 electron, 1 neutrons
H–3 tritium 1 proton, 1 electron, 2 neutrons

Atomic number: # of protons (periodic table)

Mass number: # of protons + # of neutrons

Average atomic mass: (relative atomic mass)

 The mass of an atom based on the mass of individual isotope and their abundance.
 It is a weighted average.

Average atomic mass= (mass of isotope x abundance) + (mass of isotope x abundance)…

100

Important:

 If the mass is not given, it can be obtained by adding the protons and neutrons.
 If all abundances are not given, they must add up to 100%.

There are three main types of questions:

1. Find the AAM (average atomic mass).

 Use the formulas as it is written. Units are in amu (atomic mass units).
 If an abundance is missing, subtract form 100%.

2. Find the missing isotope (mass).

 The average atomic mass must be given. If not, it can be taken from the
periodic table.
 If an abundance is missing, subtract form 100%.

3. Find the missing abundances.

 Assign the first missing abundance the variable X.
 Assign the second missing abundance 100 – X.

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  Solve for X and plug in for the second one.

Representing atoms

Lewis notation: Elements are represented by a symbol. The valence electrons are
added one by one like the four points on a compass.

Rutherford-Bohr model:
 The period indicates the number of electron shells.
 The group indicates the number of valence electrons.
 The atomic number indicates the total number of protons and electrons.

Electron shells fill the following order: 2, 8, 8, 2

The inner shells must be “filled” before the outer levels can be filled.

The third and fourth levels can hold more electrons, but having 8 (an octet) gives the
atom the stability of the inert gases.

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Simplified Atomic Model:
 Round the relative atomic mass to obtain the mass number.
 Subtracting the atomic number from the mass number will give the number of
neutrons. A
 An element is often represented by : Z E

 A is the mass number; Z is the atomic number; E is the symbol for the element

The “Ball and Stick” atomic model

 The atom is depicted as a ball.

 The bonds with other atoms are represented as sticks.
 The size of the ball is generally proportional to the number of electron shells in
the atom.
 Often used for diatomic elements: “I Have No Br Or Clever Friends”.

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The Mole
 It contain 6.02 * 1023 particles (Avagadro’s number).
 The symbol is mol.
 Its mass is the relative mass number found on the periodic table and is measured
in g/mol (molar mass).

We use ratios (want/have) to convert from one unit (ex. Moles) to another (ex.
Grams or numbers of particles).

Using the molar masses from above:

15 g NaCl x 1 mol = 0.26 mol NaCl

58.44 g

0.85 mol Ca x 40.08 g = 34 g Ca

1 mol

0.92 mol H2 x 6.02 x 1023 molecules = 5.5 x 1023 molecules H2

1 mol

1.5 x 1024 Ca atoms x 1 mol = 2.5 mol Ca

23
6.02 x 10 molecules

3.2 g H2 x 1 mol x 6.02 x 1023 molecules = 9.5 x 1023 molecules

2.02 g 1 mol

7.3 x 1022 Ne atoms x 1 mol x 20.18 g = 2.4 g Ne

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6.02 x 1023 atoms 1 mol