Elements and Isotopes

Compiled by:

Chikowe, I.

Basic Medical Sciences

College of Medicine
Malawi
2015/2016 Academic Year CHEM 100-First Semester

Objectives

By the end of this lesson, we should be able to:

identify the location, relative mass, and charge for electrons, protons, and neutrons.

describe the properties of protons, neutrons and electrons in terms of relative charge and relative mass

recall the meaning of mass number (A) and atomic (proton) number (Z)

list the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons for any given ion or isotope.

explain the existence of isotopes

calculate the average atomic mass of an element given the percent abundance and the mass of the
individual isotopes.

predict isotope with greatest abundance given the possible isotopes for an element and the average
atomic mass in the periodic table.

explain the existence of isotopes

understand the principles of a simple mass spectrometer, limited to ionisation, acceleration, deflection
and detection

know that the mass spectrometer gives accurate information about relative isotopic mass and also about
the relative abundance of isotopes

interpret simple mass spectra of elements and

calculate relative atomic mass from isotopic abundance, limited to mononuclear ions

know that mass spectrometry can be used to determine relative molecular mass
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Atomic Structure

Atom-smallest particle that takes

part in a chemical reaction
Atoms are composed of 2 regions:

nucleus: the center of the atom

that contains the mass of the atom
(protons + neutrons)
electron cloud: region that
surrounds the nucleus that contains
most of the space in the atom

In a neutral atom: protons = the

electrons.

Subatomic Particles

Atomic number (Z): it is the number of

protons in an atom;

determines its identity.

Mass number (A): it is the number of protons and

neutrons in an atom.
Hs atomic number is 1
Particle

Charge

Relative
Mass

Proton

+1

~1800

Neutron

~1800

Electron

So H has 1 proton
C atomic number is 6
So C has 6 protons
Atomic number identifies
element
2 protons = He, 1 proton= H
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Determining the number of

Protons, Neutrons, Electrons

Mass number: the number of protons and neutrons

in the nucleus
E.g: hydrogen can have a mass of 3.
Since it has 1 proton it must have 2 neutrons
# of neutrons = mass # - atomic #
In a neutral atom, the # of electrons is equal to the
# of protons
+
So e = p = atomic #
E.g: He has a mass # of 4 and atomic # of 2
Ans: p+ = 2, no = 2, e- = 2
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Elements

Each element has a unique number of protons

in its nucleus
The number of protons in the nucleus of an
atom is called the atomic number

the elements are arranged on the Periodic Table in

order of their atomic numbers

Each element has a unique name and symbol

symbol either one or two letters

one capital letter or one capital letter + one lower case.

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Origins of Names of Elements

Most chemical symbols are based on the English name

of the element.
Some symbols are based on Latin names.
The symbol for potassium is K, from the Latin kalium,
and the symbol for sodium is Na, from the Latin
natrium.
Additional elements with symbols based on their
Greek or Latin names include the following:
lead
Pb
mercury Hg
iron
Fe
silver
Ag
tin
Sn
copper Cu

plumbum
hydrargyrum
ferrum
argentum
stannum
cuprum

Early scientists gave newly discovered elements names that

reflected their properties:
Argon, from the Greek argos, means inactive, referring to
argons chemical inertness.
Other elements were named after countries:
Polonium after Poland
Francium after France
Americium after the United States of America.
Other elements were named after scientists.
Every elements name, symbol, and atomic number are
included in the periodic table (inside the front cover) and in an
alphabetical listing (inside the back cover) in books.
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The periodic table of Elements

Shorthand for an Element

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Unit of Measurement of Atoms

Relative atomic mass (Ar) of an element is

the mass of one of its atoms to 1/12 the mass of one
atom of carbon-12. Ar= av. mass of atom X 12/12.
All atoms are measured in atomic mass unit (amu).

This is a mass unit equal to exactly 1/12th the mass of a

carbon-12 atom. And mass of carbon is 12.

Since most elements have isotopes,

Ar = Atomic mass of an element is the average atomic mass

for the naturally occurring element (in amu).
Isotopes of an element have same number of electrons,
hence the same chemical (and physical) reactions.
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Isotopes

Isotopes: atoms with the same number of protons,

but differing numbers of neutrons. E.g.
35Cl

37Cl

17

17

chlorine - 35

chlorine - 37

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Isotope Fractionation

Most elements have isotopes that occur naturally in

precise proportions (fractional abundances, %).

Mass Spectrometers separate the isotopes and measure

their ratios.
This is influenced by differences in mass.
Isotopic sorting during chemical, physical, or biological
processes is called Fractionation.
This can be done using a mass spectrometer

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Mass Spectrometer

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Fractional Abundance and

Atomic Mass

Atomic mass/weight: is the average number of

protons and neutrons in nature
Average atom based on all the isotopes and their
abundance %
Atomic mass is not a whole number mass
number is a whole number!!
Atomic mass is calculated using Percent (%) abundance
of isotopes and Mass of each isotope of that element

Weighted average = mass isotope1(%) + mass isotope2(%)

100

100

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Atomic Mass of Magnesium

Isotopes

Mass of Isotope

Abundance

24Mg

24.0 amu

78.70%

25Mg

25.0 amu

10.13%

26Mg

26.0 amu

11.17%

(24)(.787) + (25)(.1013) + 26(.1117) =

18.888 + 2.5325 + 2.9042 = 24.3 amu
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Hence, all other isotopes have non-integral

masses, e.g.
1H:
1.00783 amu
40Ar: 39.96238 amu
88Sr: 87.90562 amu ; except 12C is
the only isotope with an exact integral mass
Categories of isotopes:

Unstable: isotopes that continuously and spontaneously

break down/decay in other lower atomic weight isotopes
Stable: isotopes that do not naturally decay but can exist in
natural materials in differing proportions
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Interpreting Simple
Mass Spectra

Isotope

%
Abundance

zirconium-90 51.5
zirconium-91 11.2

zirconium-92 17.1
zirconium-94 17.4
zirconium-96 2.8

Number of isotopes: The 5 peaks show 5 isotopes of

zirconium - with relative isotopic masses of 90, 91, 92, 94 & 96.
Abundance of the isotopes: here, relative abundances are
given as %.
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Applications of Isotopes
(Both Stable and Unstable)

Some types of isotope applications include:

Forensics

Medical diagnosis and treatment

Environment and human health science

Geochronology
Useful unstable/radioactive isotopes (radio-isotopes) include Technetium-99 for
imaging internal organs of the human body for medical diagnosis, Americium-241
for activating the alarm in smoke detectors, carbon-14 for answering ages of
things
Useful stable isotopes include Boron-10 used in Boron neutron capture therapy
for treating brain tumors

Carbon -13 and Carbon-12 or Oxygen-18 and Oxygen-16 to detect

performance-enhancing drug use in sports, the authenticity of foods, effects
of climate change and origins of contaminants in the environment.
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End,,,

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