All substances consist of the 120 unique varieties of atoms, each of which is made up of a

combination of three types of subatomic particles:

_ Protons: Protons have equal and opposite charges to electrons and have very nearly
the same mass as neutrons.
_ Electrons: Electrons have equal and opposite charges to protons, and electrons are
much lighter than protons and neutrons.
_ Neutrons: Neutrons are neutral and have the same mass as protons.
We summarize the must-know information about the three subatomic particles in Table 3-1.
Table 3-1 The Subatomic Particles
Particle Mass Charge
Proton 1amu +1
Electron 1⁄1836 amu –1
Neutron 1amu 0
Atoms always have an equal number of protons and electrons, which makes them overall
electrically neutral. Many atoms, however, actually prefer to have an unbalanced number of
protons and electrons, which leaves them with an overall charge. We discuss these charged
atoms, called ions, even further in the section “Exercising Electrons: Ions and Electron
Configuration,” later in this chapter.
The atom can still safely be called the smallest possible unit of an element because after you
break an atom of an element into its subatomic particles, it loses the basic properties that
make that element unique.
So what does all of this mean for the structure of an atom? What does an atom actually look
like? It took scientists a very long time to figure it out through clever experimentation and
tricky math, and over time a succession of models grew closer and closer to an accurate
description:
_ The Thompson model, also called the “Plum Pudding” model, pictured discrete, negatively
charged electrons evenly distributed through a positively charged medium that
composed the rest of the atom. The electrons were like plums in a positive pudding.
_ The Rutherford model modified the Thompson model by making clear that most of
the volume of the atom is empty space, with a large amount of charge concentrated
at the center of the atom.
_ The Bohr model built on the Rutherford model by describing the compact, central
charge as a nucleus composed of distinct proton and neutron particles. The positive
charge of the nucleus derived from the protons. Bohr envisioned electrons as discrete
particles that orbited the nucleus along distinct paths, like planets in orbit around
the sun.
_ The Quantum Mechanical model modified the Bohr model, pointing out that electrons
do not orbit the nucleus like planets around the sun. Instead, they occupy their orbitals
in a cloudlike manner; one can only describe their location in terms of probability, with
some “dense” regions having a very high probability of having an electron and other
regions having lower probability.

24 Part II: Building Matter from the Ground Up: Atoms and Bonding