2.

Atomic Structure
2.1 Particles in the atom
An atom basically consists of 3 subatomic particles, called the proton, the
neutron and the electron. Neutrons and protons are found in the nucleus of
the atom, whereas electrons are found orbiting this nucleus. Basically, the
periodic table is arranged in terms of increasing proton number, and the
number of protons in an atom determines which element it is. Heres a table
comparing these subatomic particles:
Sub atomic
particle
Proton
Neutron
Electron

Symbol

Relative mass

Relative charge

p
n
e

1
1
1/1836

+1
0
-1

Protons, neutrons and electrons have characteristic behaviors in electric

fields. This is because of the subatomic particles respective charges. If we
have to charged plates, the top one being negatively charged and the bottom
one being positively charged, and if we pass beams of subatomic particles
through the gap between these 2 plates, the following observations will be
seen:
Particle
Protons

Observation
The beam is deflected
upwards towards the
negative plate

Neutrons

No deflection

Electrons

The beam is deflected

downwards, towards the
positively charged plate.

Explanation
Since unlike charges
attract, the protons are
positively charged and so
are attracted to the
negatively charged plate,
hence the beam is
deflected upwards
As the neutrons have no
charge, they are
unaffected by electric
fields.
As unlike charges attract,
and like charges repel,
the beam of electrons is

negatively charged, and

so is repelled from the
negative plate and is
attracted towards the
positive plate. Also, the
deflection is greater than
for the beam of protons,
as electrons are much
lighter than protons.
Almost all of an atoms mass is concentrated in the nucleus, as this contains
the protons and neutrons. The nucleus is the centre of positive charge, as it
contains the protons, whereas the electrons cause the negative charge. The
number of protons and electrons is always equal in a normal atom of an
element, to keep the whole atom electrically neutral.
Nucleon number (A) = number of protons (Z) + number of neutrons. If we
are given any of these values, most commonly the nucleon and proton
number, then we can calculate the other value. In an electrically neutral
atom, the number of electrons always equals the number of protons. But if
an atom has a negative charge of -2, and a proton number of 12, then it will
have 12+2= 14 electrons. If an atom has a positive charge of +2, and an Z of
12, then it will have 12-2= 10 electrons.
2.2 The nucleus of the atom
The number of protons in an atom is known as the Proton number and is
given the symbol Z. The number of protons and neutrons in a nucleus is
called the nucleon number and is given the symbol Z.
Isotopes are atoms of the same element, with different nucleon (mass)
numbers. All isotopes of the same element will have the same number of
protons, but differing numbers of neutrons, giving them slightly different
physical properties. E.g. Hydrogen had 3 isotopes, H-1, with a nucleon
number of 1, i.e. no neutrons, H-2, with a nucleon number of 2, i.e. 1
neutron, and H-3, with a nucleon number of 3, i.e. with 2 neutrons.

 Atoms of elements can be represented in the following notation,

x
y

where x is the nucleon number and y is the proton number, e.g. H-3, tritium,
will have a notation as follows:

3
1

2.3 Electrons: Energy levels, atomic orbitals and ionisation energy

Electrons are distributed around the nucleus in what are known as energy
levels, or principal quantum shells (given the symbol n), with the first shell,
n=1, being closest to the nucleus, and is the lowest energy level. These shells
are then further divided into sub-shells, known as the s, p, d subshells (there
are also others, but they do not need to be known at AS Level). Generally, in
a quantum shell, the s subshell is at the lowest energy, and the d is at the
highest. An s subshell can hold 2 electrons max., a p subshell can hold 6
electrons max. and a d subshell can hold 10 electrons max.
Quantum Shell (n)
1
2
3
4

Max. no of electrons
2
8
18
32

Subshells present
S
S,p
S,p,d
S,p,d

Each subshell can then be thought of as being made up of orbitals:

An atomic orbital is defined as the region of space around the nucleus
which can be occupied by 1 or 2 electrons
As an orbital can contain 2 electrons max., the s subshell contains 1 orbital,
the p subshell contains 3 orbitals, and a d subshell contains 5 orbitals.
The s orbital is shaped like a sphere around the nucleus, and the p orbital is
shaped like an hour glass with 2 lobes
The electronic configurations of atoms may be represented in the following
way:
Consider an atom of lithium. It has 3 electrons, 2 in the first shell and 1 in the
second shell. All three are in an s subshell. Thus, its electronic configuration
can be shown as: 1s2 2s1. Here, the regular script numbers are the numbers of
the quantum shells, the letters show which subshell the electrons are present in,

and the superscript numbers show the number of electrons in that particular
subshell.
The first ionisation energy (H1) of an element, is the energy needed to
remove 1 electron from each atom, in one mole of atoms of the element in
the gaseous state to form 1 mole of gaseous +1 ions.
The second ionisation energy of an element would be the amount of energy
needed to remove 1 electron from each +1 ion, in one mole of +1 ions in the
gaseous state, to form 1 mole of +2 ions in the gaseous state. This then
continues for the 3rd, 4th, 5th ionisation energies.
Many factors influence the ionisation energies of elements:
1. The size of the nuclear charge: As the no. of protons increases, so
does the total positive charge. Thus, the attractive force between the
nucleus and the electrons increases, so more energy is needed to
remove an electron, leading to a higher ionisation energy. Thus, as the
proton number increases, the ionisation energy also increases.
2. The distance of outer electrons from the nucleus: The attractive
force between the nucleus and the electrons decreases as the distance
between them increases. Thus, the further the outer electron shell is
from the nucleus, the lower the ionisation energy.
3. Shielding effect of inner electrons: As all electrons are negatively
charged, they repel each other. Full inner shells will prevent the outer
electrons from feeling the full force from the nucleus, i.e. the inner
shells shield the outer electrons from the nucleus. Thus, the more
inner full electron shells, the greater the shielding and hence, the
lower the ionisation energy.
Ionisation energies follow a trend across a period, and down a group. The
following table shows the trend, and explains from the elements H to Na:

Observation
There is a general increase in H1
across a period (from H to He and from
Li to Ne)

There is a large drop in H1 between

the last element of one period, and the
first element of another, e.g. between
Ne and Na.

There is a slight decrease in H1

Explanation
This is because as you move across the
period, the positive charge increases,
but the electron that is removed is from
the same outer shell. Thus, only the
positive charge increases, but the
distance from the nucleus, and
shielding effect is relatively constant,
thus leading to an increasing ionisation
energy
As you move into another period, the
outer electron comes from a shell that
is further away from the nucleus, thus
the distance of the outer electrons from
the nucleus, and the shielding effect
both increase. This outweighs the slight
increase in positive charge, causing the
attractive force between the outer
electrons and the nucleus to decrease,
thus leading to a decrease in ionisation
energy.
Although B has one more proton than

between Be and B.

There is a slight decrease in H1

between N and O.

Be, the ionisation energy slightly

decreases instead of increasing. This is
because Be has an electronic
configuration of
1s2 2s2 and B has a
configuration of 1s2 2s2 2p1, which
means that the 5th electron in B is in a p
subshell, which is slightly further away
from the nucleus. This means that the
distance from the nucleus increases
slightly and the shielding effect also
increases slightly. These factors
outweigh the increased nuclear charge,
causing the attraction between the
nucleus and the outer electrons to
slightly decrease, leading to a slight
decrease in H1.
N has an electronic configuration of 1s2
2s2 2p3 and O has a configuration of 1s2
2s2 2p4. As we know that the p subshell
contains 3 orbitals, in N, each orbital
has one electron. But in O, one orbital
has 2 electrons. As they have the same
charge, these electrons repel, thus
making it easier to remove this
electron. This is known as Spin-pair
repulsion.

The first ionisation energy decreases as you go down a group. This is

because, as you move down a group, the outer electron is removed from the
same type of orbital, but from a higher principal quantum level. Thus, the
outer electron moves further away from the nucleus, as you move down a
group. There is also an increase in shielding of the outer electrons. These
two factors outweigh the increasing nuclear charge, thus causing the
attraction between the nucleus and the outer electron to decrease, and so,
decreasing the first ionisation energy.
Successive ionisation energies of an element generally increase as the
number of electrons removed increases (see figure below, for Al). This is

because each successive electron removed is closer to the nucleus, and is

more strongly attracted to the nucleus, thus increasing the ionisation energy.
Electronic configurations of element may be deduced from their successive
ionisation energies. Basically, if there is a really large difference between
any two ionisation energy values; a change in principal quantum level has
occurred. For example, look at the following graph for the successive
ionisation energies of Al:

You can see marked changes in ionisation energy between the 3rd and 4th
electron, and the 11th and 12th electron. Thus it can be concluded that the
electronic configuration of Al is 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p1.
In the example above, it can be seen that, as the sudden increase in
ionisation energy occurs between the 3rd and 4th electrons, the outer shell
contains 3 electrons, and so, the element is in group III of the periodic
table. This method can also be applied to other elements.

Ver. 1.0. Last edited 12/2/2015. Subject: Chemistry

By Talha Khan.