Chapter 4

Atomic
Structure

Defining the Atom

All elements are composed of particles
called atoms
All atoms of the same element are
identical
Atoms of different elements combine to
form compounds
Atoms of one element can never be
changed into another element

History of the Atom

Democritus (Greek 460-370 BC)
1st to use the word atom
Believed that atoms were
indivisible & indestructible
No scientific support

Aristotle (Greek 384-322 BC)

Rejected the theory of atoms
Believed in 4 core elements
fire, air, water, earth

 Antoine Lavoisier (French 1743-1794)

Law of Conservation of Matter
Matter is not created or destroyed
during a chemical reaction

 Joseph Proust (French 1754-1826)

Law of Definite Proportions A compound is always composed of
the same elements, in the same
proportion by mass

 John Dalton (English 1766-1844)

Studied the ratio in which elements
combine
Quantitative data mass
Law of Multiple Proportions When 2 elements form more than one
compound, they do so in a ratio of whole
numbers

Daltons Atomic Theory

1. All elements are composed of
indivisible solid sphere atoms.
2. All atoms of a given element are
identical.
3. Atoms of different elements differ in
their masses.
4. Different atoms combine in simple
whole number ratios to form
compounds.

Structure of the
Atom

Subatomic Particles
Today Daltons Atomic Theory has one
important change
Atoms are divisible
3 types of subatomic particles
Protons
Neutrons
Electrons

Electrons
J.J. Thomson (English 1897)
Identified the 1st subatomic particle
Cathode-ray tube

Thomsons Electron
Model
Named electrons
Symbol: eCharge: (-1)
Mass: ~ 0 amu
Plum Pudding/
Chocolate Chip Cookie

What about the protons &

neutrons?
Protons
Symbol: p+
Charge: (+1)
Mass: 1 amu
Neutons
Symbol: n0
Charge: (0) neutral
Mass: 1 amu

The Nucleus
Ernest Rutherford (English 1911) Discovered the structure of the atom
Gold foil experiment
Rutherfords Gold Foil Experiment

Rutherfords Nuclear
Model
Atom is mostly empty space
Atoms have a dense center nucleus
Most of the mass is in the nucleus
Nucleus has a positive charge
Protons & neutrons are located in the
nucleus
Electrons are outside of the nucleus &
occupy most of the atoms volume

Distinguishing
Among Atoms

What makes atoms

different from one another?

# of protons
Atomic number = # of protons
Usually written as a subscript
Mg12 or 12Mg

What element has 11 protons? Sodium

How many protons does potassium have?
19

How do you determine

the # of neutrons?
Atomic mass = # protons + # neutrons
Usually written as a superscript
12C or C12 or C -12
# of neutrons is the difference between
the atomic mass & the atomic number
# of neutrons = atomic mass - atomic #

What is the atomic mass of helium?

4.0026 round to 4
What element has an atomic mass of 27?
Aluminum
How many protons does this element
contain?
13
How many neutrons does this element
contain?
27 13 = 14

What about electrons?

# electrons = # of protons
Why?
Atoms are electrically neutral
How many electrons does sulfur contain?
16
Which element contains 10 electrons?
Neon

Sample Problems
How many protons, neutrons and
electrons are in each atom?
Beryllium (Be) -

4, 5, 4

Fluorine (F) -

9, 10, 9

Hydrogen (H) -

1, 0, 1

 How many neutrons are in each atom?

O16

108
47Ag

Pb207

82

16 8 = 8

108 47 = 61

207 82 = 125

 Express the composition of each atom in

shorthand form.
Nitrogen -14

p+ = 7, n0 = 7, e- = 7

Sodium - 23

p+ = 11, n0 = 12, e- = 11

Phosphorus -31 p+ = 15 , n0 = 16, e- = 15

Isotopes
Atoms that contain the same number of
protons but have different numbers of
neutrons
Different atomic masses
Does not change the atoms identity
Are naturally occurring
Symbols:
Na23 or

11

Na24

11

C12 or 6C13 or

C14

 Determine the number of protons,

neutrons and electrons in the following:
H1

p+ = 1, n0 = 0, e- = 1

p+ = 1, n0 = 1, e- = 1

H3

p+ = 1, n0 = 2, e- = 1

Determining the Atomic Mass

Atomic mass # is an average of atoms
naturally occurring isotopes
Copper has 2 isotopes Cu-63 and Cu-65
Which isotope is most abundant?
63
There are 3 isotopes of Silicon with mass
numbers of 28, 29, and 30.
Si -28
Which is more abundant?

Calculating the Atomic

Mass
Multiply the mass of each isotope by its
natural abundance (expressed as a
decimal), then add the products
Practice

Ions
An atom with an electrical charge
Occurs 2 ways:
Oxidation loss of an eresults in a (+) charge
Reduction gain of an eresults in a (-) charge
Mnemonic: Leo says Ger
Loss of electrons = oxidation
Gain of electrons = reduction

Examples of Ions

H+
ClAs3Mg2+

Lost 1eGained 1eGained 3eLost 2e-

Oxidation State
Number found on the periodic table
Shows the number of e- gained or lost
Many elements have more than one number