Elements & Atoms

Lecture 1
Atom & the atomic structure

Elements Isotopes & Allotropes

Why do materials behave differently?

The origin of material properties is at the atomic level. Two things are especially important : (1) The forces which hold atoms together (the interatomic bonds) (2) The ways in which atoms pack together (the atom packing)

Atoms
Atom basic unit of matter It consists of protons (+), neutrons () & electrons (-). Atom is electro-neutral : protons (+) = electrons (-).

The nucleus is at the centre of the atom and contains the protons and neutrons. Protons and neutrons are collectively known as nucleons. Virtually all the mass of the atom is concentrated in the nucleus, because the electrons weight so little. Electrons orbit around the nucleus the electron cloud model Negatively charged electrons trapped in the electrical field generated by the positively charged nucleus.

Elements
Z - Atomic number is the number of protons found in the nucleus of an atom. Pure chemical substance consisting of one type of atoms chemical element. The atomic number Z uniquely identifies a chemical element. Element has name, symbol, atomic number & mass number. A Mass number is total the number of protons AND neutrons in the nucleus of an atom.

A=Z+N N number of neutrons

Z (He) = 2 A (He) = 4 N (He) = A Z = 4 2 = 2

Isotopes
Isotopes are atoms of the same element (with the same atomic number Z), but with a different neutron number N. Isotopes of the same element also have different mass number A. Three isotopes of carbon: 6 protons in the nucleus + either 6, 7 or 8 neutrons = 12C, 13C and 14C Some isotopes that are radioactive (radioisotopes/radionuclide). Radionuclides decay, emitting gamma rays and subatomic particles.

Isotopes
Most naturally occurring elements exist as a mixture of isotopes, and the average atomic mass of this mixture determines the element's atomic weight. average atomic weight of the element = [ (exact weight of an isotope)*(abundance of that isotope) ] (abundance of that isotope) = 1 (100%) M (X) = abundance(1)*M(1) + abundance(2)*M(2) + .... Nitrogen is made up of two isotopes, N-14 and N-15. Molecular weights: 14.003074 - N14; 15.000108 - N15 Relative abundances: 0.9963 (99.63%) - N14; 0.0037 (0.37%) - N15

M N 0.9963 14 .003074 0.0037 15 .000108 14 .007

Allotropes
Allotropes are different structural modifications of an element. The atoms of the element are bonded together in a different manner (different structure = spacial arrangement of atoms) diamond, graphite, graphene, fullerenes, carbon nanotubes