CHEMISTRY 1

TOPIC 1
ATOMIC STRUCTURE AND
BONDING
Specification

Atomic Structure of the Atom • Protons, neutrons and electrons

Structure • Atomic number and mass number
and • Isotopes e.g. Cl35 and Cl37, calculation of RAM from
Bonding isotopic masses and relative abundance
• Role of mass spectrometry in identifying isotopic masses

Electronic • arrangement of electrons in shells, subshells and orbitals

Configuration • shapes of orbitals
• s, p and d notation (elements 1-20)

Ionic Bonding • transfer of electrons from metal to non-metal

• attraction of opposite charges
• examples to include MgO, NaCl and CaCl2.
• Properties of ionic compounds

Covalent Bonding • Sharing of electrons between non-metals

• Examples to include Cl2, O 2, H2O and CH4.
• Simple molecular and giant molecular structures
• Electronegativity and bond polarity

Metallic Bonding • Attraction between metal ions and free electrons

• Properties of metals
 Section 1: Structure of the Atom

Atomic structure
What is an atom?
• Very small particle
• About 1 million on the top of a full stop.
The smallest part of an element that can take part in a chemical
reaction

The Atom
An atom consists of subatomic particles

Electron

Nucleus Proton
Neutron

1. protons and neutrons in the nucleus

2. electrons in space about the nucleus
known as shells.

Subatomic Particles
• All particles are light so scientists measure their masses in atomic mass unit instead of grams.

• Protons and electrons carry a charge

• Neutrons do not have a charge.

Particle View Mass Charge Location

proton

neutron

electron

The number of protons identifies an element.

1
 Atomic Symbols

 Show the mass number and atomic number

Give the symbol of the element

mass number
23 Na
11

atomic number

Atomic Number (Z) Mass Number (A)

Counts the number of Counts the number

of
protons
protons and neutrons
in an atom in an atom

This fact is used to identify an atom since it is specific to them. Remember electrons in an atom have negligible mass

Mass number or

Na
Relative atomic mass 23
= protons + neutrons

symbol of
Symbol Mg
element

12
Atomic number
= protons
11 Atomic Number
(12 p+)
In an atom the charges of the protons and electrons cancel out so:
All magnesium atoms have 11 protons.
number of electrons = number of protons

Finding the number of particles in an atom

• Number of protons = bottom number

• Number of neutrons = top – bottom

• Number of electrons = protons

All atoms of an element have the same number of protons

Sodium Na
11 protons
11
All sodium atoms have 11 protons.

2
Example

K
39

19

• Number of protons = bottom = 19

• Number of neutrons = top – bottom

= 39 -19 = 20

• Number of electrons = protons = 19

Find out the number of protons, neutrons and electrons of the following:

12
(1) carbon
6 C
24
(2) magnesium
12 Mg
4
(3) helium
2 He
16
O
(4) oxygen
8

17 Cl
(5) chlorine 35

Chemistry is mostly about the movement of electrons

So it is important to know where they are and how they are arranged

Electrons are found in things called SHELLS

Each shell can hold a certain number of electrons
•

• First shell = 2 electrons and ONLY two electrons

• All other shells = up to eight electrons

• Fill inner shells first and then work your way out

Drawing the diagram of an atom Draw diagrams of the following atoms:

Cl
35
Example = chlorine 12
17
(1) carbon
6 C
24
Protons = 17
Neutrons = 35 -17 = 18
(2) magnesium
12 Mg
Electrons = protons = 17 4
(3) helium
17p
1st shell = 2 2 He
2nd shell = 8
18n (4) oxygen 16
3rd shell = 7
8 O

3
 The Electrons
Working out the number of electrons

Atoms are electrically neutral, and the positivenessof the protons is balanced by the negativenessof the
electrons. It follows that in a neutral atom:

no of electrons = no of protons

'HWHUPLQHWKHQXPEHURISubatomic Particles in HDFKRIWKHVHDtoms

16 31 65
O P Zn
8 15 30

Relative Atomic Mass (RAM)

• This is the number given for each element in the periodic table.
• It is defined as the average mass of an atom of an element compared to an atom of carbon 12.

• What is the RAM of Chlorine?

• Cl can’t have 18.5 neutrons!

• There are two types of Cl atom, some have 18 neutrons and some of 20.
• Their relative atomic mass is worked out by relative abundance of each.

Isotopes
 The atoms of an element are not always the same!
 They may contain the same number of protons but their neutron numbers may differ from atom to atom.
 Isotopes are atoms of the same element, with the same number of protons but different numbers of
neutrons, so different mass numbers.

Isotopes of Carbon
 There are three kinds of carbon atom
 12C, 13C and 14C
 They all have the same number of protons
 But the number of neutrons varies

4
Isotopes of Carbon
protons neutrons mass number
carbon-12 12
carbon-13 13
carbon-14 14

The fact that they have varying numbers of neutrons makes no difference
whatsoever to the chemical reactions of the carbon.

Isotopes of Chlorine
• The two isotopes of chlorine have the following relative abundance

Element Relative mass of isotope Relative abundance

Cl 35 3
Cl 37 1

• We can actually use this information to work out the RAM of chlorine

How do we find these masses?

• We use a MASS SPECTROMETER

5
 Electrons, Protons & Neutrons

1. Define ATOMIC NUMBER and MASS NUMBER.

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[4]

2. Use the information in Table 1 to help you calculate and record the numbers of
electrons, protons and neutrons in Table 2:

Table 1
Element Atomic Number Mass Number
F 9 19
P 15 31
Ar 18 40
Pd 46 106
Fe 26 56
Cu 29 64

Table 2
Element Electrons Protons Neutrons
F
P
Ar
Pd
Fe
Cu
[6]
3. Explain why atoms do not have a charge.

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___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

[2]

4. Complete the following table:

Element Atomic number Number of neutrons

19 20
Manganese
Bromine 45
[4]
 Section 2: Electronic Configuration
Electronic configuration
What are chemical bonds?
• They are the forces of attraction which hold various atoms together in chemical
substances

Electron shells (recap from earlier)

a) Atomic number = number of electrons

b) The electrons are found at considerable distances from the nucleus

c) Electrons vary in the amount of energy they possess, and they occur at certain
energy levels or electron shells.

Why are electrons important?

 Elements have different numbers of electrons in their outer shells

 Those with full outer shells are most stable
 Those that do not have a full electron shells are least stable and are very chemically
reactive

Electrons are placed in shells according to rules:

1) Each energy shell can only hold a certain number of electrons.
2) The first shell (nearest the nucleus) can hold up to 2 electrons
3) The next two shells can hold up to 8 electrons.

When working out electron shells

always fill up an inner level before
you go to an outer one.

6
 Worked Example
To find the electronic arrangement in chlorine
– The Periodic Table gives you the atomic number of 17.

– Therefore there are 17 protons and 17 electrons.

– The arrangement of the electrons will be 2, 8, 7 (i.e. 2 in the first level, 8 in the
second, and 7 in the third).

• Write the electronic configuration for the following elements;

a) Ca 20 Na 11 8 5
b)
23
c) O16 d) Cl 17 e) Si 14 f) B 11
40 35 28

Dot and Cross Diagrams

• In Dot & Cross diagrams elements and compounds are represented by Dots or
Crosses to show electrons, and circles to show the shells. For example

X 7
Nitrogen N
XX N X X 14

XX

The things above though are only a GCSE version of what is going
on. The more advanced (though still not wholly correct) version is
based on the the Periodic Table as described today.

• The vertical columns are grouped into blocks called the s-block, p-block, d-
block and block based on the electronic configurations of the elements

• Rutherford’s model of the atom is a

simple model of electronic structure.
• It shows that electrons behave like
particles (they have mass).
• However, other scientists showed that
electrons are like waves.
• It turns out that electrons can behave like
both a particle and a wave, in what’s
known as wave-particle duality.
• This means that a different model of
electronic configuration is required.

7
 RULES AND PRINCIPLES

HEISENBERG’S UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE

“You cannot determine the position and momentum of an electron at the same time.”
This means that you cannot say exactly where an electron is. It put paid to the idea of electrons
orbiting the nucleus in rings and introduced the idea of orbitals.

THE AFBAU PRINCIPLE

“Electrons enter the lowest available energy level.”

THE BOHR ATOM

Ideas about the structure of the atom have
changed over the years. The Bohr theory thought of
it as a small nucleus of protons and neutrons
surrounded by circulating electrons.
Maximum electrons
Each shell or energy level could hold a maximum per shell
number of electrons. 1st shell 2
2nd shell 8
The energy of levels became greater as they got 3rd shell 18
further from the nucleus and electrons filled energy 4th shell 32
levels in order. 5th shell 50

Orbitals
• An orbital is a region in space where you are likely to find an electron.
• Do not confuse ‘orbit’ with orbital – they are completely different!
• Different orbitals have different shapes and can hold a different number of electrons.

s-Orbital p-Orbital
• s-Orbitals are spherical (not • p-Orbitals are dumbbell-shaped
circular) and can hold a and overall hold up to six
maximum of two electrons electrons (3 p orbitals with 2
in opposite spins. electrons in each)
• Every energy level has one s- • p-Orbitals can point in three
orbital; they are labelled different directions which gives
us pz, py and px.
according to the energy level
(1s; 2s; 3s; 4s etc.). • Every energy level except the
first has three p-orbitals.
• All the elements in Group I
• All the elements in Groups II –
and II have their outer VII and the Noble gases (except
electrons in a s-orbital; He) have their outer electrons in
hence, they are called the s- a p-orbital; hence, they are the
block elements. p-block elements.

8
 d-Orbital
• d-Orbitals have various shapes and overall hold ten electrons.
• Every energy level except the first and second has five d-orbitals.
• All the transition elements have their outer electrons in a d-orbital;
hence, they are the d-block elements.

ORBITALS SUMMARY
ORBITAL SHAPE OCCURRENCE
s spherical one in every principal shell
p dumb-bell three in shells from 2 upwards
d various five in shells from 3 upwards
f various seven in shells from 4 upwards

Energy Levels
Energy Sub-level
Level
4f (14 electrons)
4d (10 electrons)
4 4p (6 electrons)
4s (2 electrons) Basic Principle:
3d (10 electrons) electrons occupy
3 3p (6 electrons) lowest energy
3s (2 electrons)
levels available
2p (6 electrons)
2 2s (2 electrons)

1 1s (2 electrons)

2 ways to write electron configurations

spdf Notation spdf NOTATION

for H, atomic number = 1 Rules for Filling Orbitals
1 no. of
1s electrons Bottom-up
(Aufbau’s principle)
sublevel Fill orbitals singly before
value of energy level doubling up
(Hund’s Rule)
ORBITAL BOX NOTATION
Orbital Box Notation
for He, atomic number = 2
2 Arrows show
1s ↓↑ electron spin
(+½ or -½)
1s

9
 Shapes of the orbital's

PRINCIPAL SUB LEVELS PRINCIPAL SUB LEVELS

ENERGY ENERGY
LEVELS 4f LEVELS 4f
4d 4d
4 4
4p 4p
INCREASING ENERGY / DISTANCE

4s 3d
4s
3d 3 3p
3 3p 3s
3s
2p
2
2p 2s
2
FROM NUCLEUS

2s

1 1s 1 1s

Orbitals are not filled in numerical order because the principal energy levels get closer
together as you get further from the nucleus. This results in overlap of sub levels. The
first example occurs when the 4s orbital is filled before the 3d orbitals.

Filling Orbitals HOW TO REMEMBER ...

1s
THE FILLING ORDER
2s 2p
1s
3s 3p 3d
2s 2p
4s 4p 4d 4f
Remember
5s 5p 5d 5f s-orbitals hold 2 3s 3p 3d

6s 6p 6d
electrons 4s 4p 4d 4f
p-orbitals hold 6
7s 7p electrons 5s 5p 5d 5f
d-orbitals hold 10
electrons 6s 6p 6d
7s 7p

10
The Goal
All atoms want 8 electrons in their outer shell to make them happy

• They will either lose or gain electrons in order to become “happy”

•
• If they lose electrons they become positive ions (the number of protons is bigger
than the number of electrons)
•
• If they gain electrons they become negative ions (the number of protons is smaller
than the number of electrons)

Octet Rule = atoms tend to gain, lose or share electrons so

as to have 8 electrons
C would like to Gain 4 electrons
N would like to Gain 3 electrons
Gain 2 electrons
O would like to

13
Section 3: Ionic Bonding
Ions
• IONS are atoms or group of atoms with a positive or negative charge
• To tell the difference between an atom and an ion, we use superscript numbers.

Na + Ca 2+
Cl - O 2-

• Non-metals usually form

negative ions

• Metals usually form

positive ions.

Chemical bonds: an attempt to fill electron shells

• Gaining or losing electrons – ionic bonds (between metal and non-metal)
• Sharing electrons – covalent bonds (between non-metals only)
• Unfixed sharing electrons – metallic bonds (between metals only)

IONIC BOND
Is a bond formed between two ions by the
transfer of electrons

Formation of Ions from Metals

● Ionic compounds result when metals react with nonmetals
● Metals lose electrons to match the number of electrons of their nearest noble gas.
Positive ions form when the number of electrons are less than the number of protons

Group 1 metals → ion 1+

Group 2 metals → ion 2+

Some Typical Ions with Positive Charges

(Cations)
Group 1 Group 2

H+ Mg2+
Li+ Ca2+
Na+ Sr2+
K+ Ba2+
14
 Ions from Nonmetal Ions
● Non-metals gain electrons to match the number of valence electrons of their nearest noble
gas. Negative ions form when the number of electrons are more than the number of protons
Group 7 non-metals →ion 1‫־‬
Group 6 non- metals →ion 2‫־‬

Some Typical Ions with Negative Charges

(Anions)
Group 7 Group 6 Group 5
F‫־‬ O ²‫־‬ N ³‫־‬
Cl ‫־‬ S ²‫־‬ P ³‫־‬
Br ‫־‬
I‫־‬

When two elements join the end is usually _______ide.

Ionic bonding
Sodium + Chlorine → Sodium chloride

Na Cl Na Cl

Both ions have full outer shells – happy

Outer shells not full!
atoms! 
Unhappy atoms 

The electron from Na is transferred to Cl.

This causes a charge imbalance in each atom.
The Na becomes (Na+) and the Cl becomes (Cl-) ions.

Ionic Structures
1) Ionic bonds always produce giant ionic structures.
2) The ions form a closely packed regular lattice arrangement.
3) There are very strong chemical bonds between all the ions.

15
1) They have high melting points and boiling points.
2) They dissolve to form solutions that conduct electricity.
3) They conduct electricity when molten.
4) They DO NOT conduct electricity as solids because the ions are not
free to move
5) They are brittle

Recap for Ionic Bonding

• Between atoms of metals and nonmetals
• Bond formed by transfer of electrons
• Produce charged ions.
• Good conductors and have high melting points.
• Examples; NaCl, CaCl2, K2O

Chemical Formula for Ionic Compounds

Positive Ions Negative Ions

1+ ions 2+ ions 3+ ions 2- ions 1- ions
Cu+ Cu2+ Al3 O2- NO3 –
(copper II) (aluminium)
(copper I) + (oxide) (nitrate)
Ag+ Fe2 Fe3+ SO42- OH –
(silver) + II)
(iron (iron III) (sulphate) (hydroxide)
H+ Zn2+ CO32- HCO3-
(hydrogen) (zinc) (carbonate) (hydrogen
carbonate)
NH4 + Pb 2+
(ammonium) (lead)

Chemical Formula for Ionic Compounds

• What is the formula of sodium oxide?

• The ions present are Na+ and O2-
• The charges are not equal. It is necessary to have 2 sodium ions for every oxide ion

Na+ O2-
Na
O
Na Na2 O

Formula is Na2O

16
Section 4: Covalent Bonding
Is a bond formed by the sharing of electrons

• It is a type of chemical bonding formed by the sharing of electrons of an atom to

obtain a full outer shell
• This gives both atoms stability
• The shared electron pair is called a bonding pair

hydrogen atoms hydrogen molecule

• Occurs between certain non-metals only

Nonmetals

• The chemical bond forms due to the attraction between the nuclei of the
atoms (positive charge) and the shared electrons (negative charge)

Sharing of electrons
• One pair of shared electrons
– SINGLE BOND
• Two pairs of shared electrons
– DOUBLE BOND
• Three pairs of shared electrons
– TRIPLE BOND

17
An example of Covalent bonding
A chlorine atom has seven electrons in its outer shell

X X

Each chlorine atom wants to

X
gain one electron to achieve a
full outer shell. Cl X
Cl X

X X

• The full outer shell is achieved by each atom sharing the electron pair in the middle.
• A molecule of chlorine is formed from the two atoms.

X X

Cl X
Cl X
X Cl Cl
X X Single bonds are abbreviated
with a dash
It is a single bonding pair
called a SINGLE BOND

Covalent bonding – Double bonds

• Oxygen atoms can each form two covalent bonds.

• Two pairs of electrons are shared in an oxygen molecule (O2) forming a DOUBLE BOND.

X X

O X O O=O
X X
For convenience, the double
X X
bond can be shown as two
Both electron pairs are shared dashes.
two bonding pairs
Makes a double bond

When electrons are shared equally

the bonding is known as nonpolar
covalent bonds

H2 or Cl2

18
 hydrogen molecule chlorine molecule

H
Cl Cl
H

• When the attraction between two atoms is the same the electrons are shared equally.
• As a result, the molecule is nonpolar

Polar Covalent Bonds

when electrons are shared but shared unequally i.e. H2O

Electronegativity is a measure of the

tendency of an atom to attract a
bonding pair

• N, O and F are the 3 most electronegative elements.

• When electronegative elements bond to a hydrogen atom, the electrons in the
covalent bond are drawn towards the electronegative atom.
• This is known as a polar covalent bond

hydrogen atom

• As the hydrogen has no other inner shells of electrons, the single proton in the
nucleus is ‘exposed’ and able to attract other ‘negative’ atoms.

Polar molecules
• When atoms with slightly different electronegativities bond together, the result is a
polar covalent bond.
• The electrons are attracted towards the atom with the greater electronegatvity.

_ • Water molecules are charged

+
polar molecules

• The oxygen atom is more

electronegative than
hydrogen.

• The hydrogen atoms has a

slightly positive charge

19
 Everyday examples of Covalent compounds
diamond water

methane

sugar sand

Summary of Covalent bonding

• Atoms are most stable if they have a full outer shell.
• Atoms bond with one another to achieve full outer shells
• This type of bonding associated with the sharing of electrons is called covalent bonding.
• Each atom involved has to make enough covalent bonds to fill up its outer shell.

Types of Covalent Molecule

• SIMPLE Covalent Structures

• GIANT Covalent Structures

Simple Covalent Molecules

• Made up of compounds with simple
molecular structure
– Carbon Dioxide CO2
– Water H2O
– Oxygen O2

Simple Covalent Structures Very Strong Covalent Bonds

Inside the Covalent Molecule
(INTRAmolecular)
• When the compound melts/boils only the weak
inter-molecular forces of attraction BETWEEN
molecules are broken
• The very strong intra-molecular covalent bond
INSIDE the molecule remains intact and is not
broken Weak Forces of Attraction (not
bonds) between Covalent
Molecules (INTERmolecular)

20
 Physical properties of Simple Covalent Structures
• They usually have
– Low melting points
– Low boiling points
• The forces of attraction BETWEEN the covalent molecules are weak, so less energy is
required to break these weak forces of attraction
• They usually do not conduct electricity, as there are no ions.
• They are usually insoluble in water

Giant Covalent Structures

• A few non-metal elements consist of giant structures of atoms held together by
covalent bonds. Similar to giant ionic structures except there are no charged ions.
• All the atoms are bonded by strong covalent bonds.
• Diamond (carbon), Graphite (carbon), Silicon (Si),

Diamond Graphite
Each carbon atom is joined to 4 other Consists of flat layers of carbon atoms.
carbon atoms by strong covalent bonds in Each carbon atom is joined to 3 other
a tetrahedral arrangement carbon atoms by strong covalent
bonds.
Very high melting and boiling point
Do not conduct electricity as it has no Between the layers, there are
free electrons NO strong covalent bonds only
Insoluble in water. weak forces of attraction
Very hard

• Very high melting point (4000 °C), as the

covalent bonds between the carbon atoms
in each layer are very strong.
• Conducts electricity. Carbon is the only
non-metal that conducts electricity.
– Each carbon atom is only joined to 3
other carbon atoms. There are some
electrons that are not involved in bonding
and so are free to move around to
conduct electricity.
21
Section 5: Metallic Bonding
Metallic Bond
A Sea of Electrons
bond found in metals; holds metal atoms together
very strongly

• Formed between atoms of metallic elements

• Metallic bonds involve “free electrons” in the outer electron shell of
every metal atom in the giant structure.
• Good conductors of electricity and heat, very high melting points
• These electrons also hold the atoms together in a regular structure.

Properties of metals

22
 1a) Using the periodic table supplied and the key below draw the atomic
structure of an atom of fluorine.
Proton = o Neutron = • Electron = x

[4]

b) i) Carbon can exist as both C12 and C14. Say how the two forms differ and
why they are both still named as carbon.
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
________________________[3]
ii) What are these different forms of one element called?

____________________________________________ [1]
c) i) Draw a diagram to show how covalent bonds are formed in a molecule of
ammonia. Formula of ammonia = NH 3 . (Show all electrons.)

[5]

ii) Ammonia reacts vigorously with water. Write an equation to show this
reaction.

____________________________________________ [3]
2. (a) Draw a dot/cross diagram below to represent a molecule of Chlorine (Cl 2 ).
You need show only the outer electrons.

[2 marks]

(i) Name the type of bond found in a molecule of chlorine (Cl 2 ).

[1 mark]

(b) Chlorine (Cl 2 ) gas reacts with sodium metal (Na) to form the compound called
sodium chloride (NaCl).

(i) Write a balanced symbol equation for this reaction.

[2 marks]
(ii) Name the type of bond found in the compound sodium chloride.

[1 mark]
(iii) What would the mass of 0.8 moles of the compound sodium chloride (NaCl)
weigh? (Show your calculations).

[2 marks]

3. The diagram shows an atom.

....................................A

...................................D ....................................B

....................................C

(a) On the diagram, write the names of structures A, B, C and D.

(2)

(b) To which Group of the periodic table does this atom belong?

..........................................................................................................................

Using evidence from the diagram, give one reason for your answer.

..........................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................
(2)
 (c) Name the element which is made up of this type of atom.

..........................................................................................................................
(1)

4. You will find it helpful to use the periodic table when answering this question.

In the nucleus of an aluminium atom are:

13 protons
and 14 neutrons.

(a) Complete these sentences.

(i) The mass number of the aluminium atom is ...................................... .

(ii) In an atom of aluminium there are ....................................... electrons.

(2)

(b) Why is an aluminium atom electrically neutral?

..........................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................
(1)

(c) Complete the table for the element fluorine.

NUMBER OF NUMBER OF NUMBER OF

PARTICLE PROTONS NEUTRONS ELECTRONS

Fluorine atom 9 9

Fluoride ion 10

(2)
5. The diagram represents the electronic structure of an atom of an element.

×
× Nucleus

× ×

×
×

(a) Name this element.

.....................................................................................................................................
(1)

(b) Complete this sentence.

The nucleus of an atom contains ............................. and ...................................

(1)

(a) Draw a diagram to show how an atom of hydrogen combines with an atom of fluorine to
form a hydrogen fluoride molecule. The drawing should show all the electron shells.
Draw electrons as dots or crosses.

(3)

(b) Explain why hydrogen fluoride is a gas at room temperature.

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..........................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................
(2)
(c) The diagram shows part of the ionic lattice of a sodium chloride crystal.

(i) Complete the spaces in the table to give information about both of the ions
in this lattice.

Name of ion Charge

..................................................... .....................................................

..................................................... .....................................................
(2)

(ii) Explain how the ions in this lattice stay in place.

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..........................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................

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(2)

(iii) When it is solid, sodium chloride will not conduct electricity. However,
molten sodium chloride will conduct electricity. Explain this difference.

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..........................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................
(2)