The Nature of Atoms

Atoms are known to consist of subatomic particles called protons,

neutrons and electrons.
Protons and neutrons are located in the nucleus, while electrons are
located outside the nucleus spinning at varying distances.
The diferences in size and charge of the subatomic particles are:
ub! atomic
particle
Atomic mass
units "u#
$ass
"%g#
&elative
charge
'lectron ()(*+, ,.-(,-. / (,
!+,
!(
0eutron ( (123.13 / (,
!+,
,
Proton ( (12..-4 / (,
!+,
5(
6u is the 7ni8ed Atomic $ass 7nit 9 ()(3 the mass of a carbon atom#
Atomic number "ymbol :# is the number of protons in the nucleus of
an atom.
0o two elements have the same atomic number.
The atomic number is e;ual to the number of electrons <0 A
0'7T&A= AT>$
<t is the charge on the nucleus of an atom.
$ass number "ymbol A# is the total number of neutrons and protons
present in the nucleus of an atom.
The mass number is a measure of the heaviness or mass of the
atom.
The number of neutrons in an atom is calculated by:
0umber of
neutrons "0# 9 mass number "A# ! atomic number ":#
tandard atomic notation "A0# is a way of presenting subatomic
information about an element. <t follows the format shown below:
$ass number A
chemical symbol
Atomic number :
X
?esides .A.0., two other ways to write an element are by using its
name >& symbol, followed by its mass number.
e.g. calcium may be written: @aA., and calcium!.,
<sotopes
<sotopes are atoms of the same element that have diferent number of
neutrons. Therefore they difer in mass number.
e.g. There are two very common isotopes of chlorine.
+4
(2
@l and
+2
(2
@l
each of these isotopes has (2 protons, but one has 3, neutrons and
other has only (* neutrons.
<sotopes were discovered by the use of a mass spectrometer. This
instrument measures atomic masses of element samples with great
precision. o it was found that most elements were mi/tures of
isotopes.
0atural abundance and Average atomic mass
<n samples of natural elements, each isotope of an element has been
discovered to be present in a 8/ed percentage called its natural
abundance.
ince a given element e/ists as a mi/ture of isotopes, the atomic mass
used for an element is actually a weighted average of the masses of
the isotopes present. This weighted average is called the Average
Atomic Mass of an element.