COMBINING OF

ATOMS
WHAT IS AN ATOM?

• ATOM IS THE SMALLEST PARTICLE THAT HAS

THE PROPERTIES OF AN ELEMENT. IT IS THE
BASIC UNIT OF MATTER.
ATOMIC SYMBOLS
• EACH ELEMENT HAS ITS OWN NAME AND ACCOMPANIED BY A
SYMBOL.

• USUALLY TWO OR THREE LETTERS (FIRST IS ALWAYS CAPITALIZED)

• EXAMPLE:
• IRON: FE - FE REPRESENTS 1 ATOM OF IRON,
• 2FE REPRESENTS 2 ATOMS OF IRON
• IT CAN ALSO BE WRITTEN AS FE2
MOLECULES
• THE SMALLEST UNIT OF A SUBSTANCE THAT
EXHIBITS ALL THE PROPERTIES CHARACTERISTICS
OF THAT SUBSTANCE
• TWO OR MORE ATOMS
• EXAMPLE: H8 , O2
COMPOUND
• A SUBSTANCE THAT IS MADE FROM TWO
OR MORE SIMPLER SUBSTANCES AND CAN
BE BROKEN DOWN INTO THOSE SIMPLER
SUBSTANCES
• EXAMPLE: H2SO4
DEMOCRITUS THEORY
• GREEK PHILOSOPHER, DEMOCRITUS IN THE 4TH CENTURY B.C BELIEVED THAT
ALL MATTER CONSISTED OF EXTREMELY SMALL PARTICLES

• HE SUGGESTED THESE PARTICLES ARE MADE OF INVISIBLE UNITS CALLED ATOMS

• THE TERM ATOM IS DERIVED FROM A GREEK WORD MEANING “UNABLE TO
DIVIDE”

• HE BELIEVED THERE WERE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ATOMS, LIQUIDS: ROUND,

SMOOTH SOLIDS: ROUGH, PRICKLY

• UNABLE TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE THAT AN ATOM EXISTED, THEREFORE MANY

PEOPLE WERE VERY SKEPTICAL DALTON’S ATOMIC THEORY
JOHN DALTON
• HE IS INTERESTED IN PREDICTING THE WEATHER
• HE STUDIED THE BEHAVIOR OF GASES IN THE AIR, CONCLUDED THAT
A GAS CONSISTS OF INDIVIDUAL PARTICLES

• EVIDENCE - MASSES OF ELEMENTS AS THEY COMBINED TO FORM

COMPOUNDS ALWAYS PRODUCED THE SAME RATIO NO MATTER
WHAT THE SIZE OF THE SAMPLE

• EXAMPLE: CARBON DIOXIDE - 1 CARBON 2 OXYGEN: 1:2 RATIO

DALTON ATOMIC THEORY

• USED A GREEK CONCEPT OF THE ATOM

AND THE 3 LAWS TO GIVE THE ATOMIC
THEORY A SCIENTIFIC BASIS
FIVE PRINCIPLES
1. ALL MATTER IS MADE OF INDIVISIBLE AND INDESTRUCTIBLE ATOMS
2. ALL ATOMS OF A GIVEN ELEMENT ARE IDENTICAL IN THEIR PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL
PROPERTIES

3. ATOMS OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTS DIFFER IN THEIR PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES

4. ATOMS OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTS COMBINE IN SIMPLE WHOLE-NUMBERS RATIOS TO FORM
COMPOUNDS

5. CHEMICAL REACTIONS CONSIST OF THE COMBINATION, SEPARATION, OR REARRANGEMENT OF

ATOMS - THEORY EXPLAINED MOST OF THE CHEMICAL DATA OF THE DAY AND WAS READILY
ACCEPTED - EVIDENCE SINCE HAS SHOWN THE FIRST TWO PRINCIPLES ARE NOT VALID;
OVERLOOKED THAT MOST ATOMS WILL COMBINED WITH OTHER OF THEIR OWN KIND - NOT
DISCARDED ONLY MODIFIED
SUBATOMIC PARTICLES
PROTONS
• A POSITIVELY CHARGE SUBATOMIC PARTICLE THAT IS FOUND IN
THE NUCLEUS OF AN ATOM

• PROTON IS NEARLY 2000 TIMES MORE MASSIVE THAN THE

ELECTRON, BUT EQUAL IN CHARGE AND OPPOSITE IN SIGN TO
THE ELECTRON

• NUMBER OF PROTONS IN THE NUCLEUS IS ELECTRICALLY

BALANCED BY AN EQUAL NUMBER OF ELECTRONS

• EXAMPLE: OXYGEN ATOM: CONTAINS 8 ELECTRONS AND

PROTONS: NEUTRAL ATOM, NO NET CHARGE
ELECTRONS
• A NEGATIVELY CHARGED SUBATOMIC PARTICLE
THAT IS FOUND IN THE SPACE OUTSIDE THE NUCLEUS

• NAME COMES FROM THE GREEK WORD FOR

AMBER - AMBER: MATERIAL DISCOVERED BY EARLY
GREEKS THAT WAS FOUND TO EXHIBIT THE EFFECTS
OF ELECTRICAL CHARGING
NEUTRONS

• A NEUTRAL SUBATOMIC PARTICLE THAT IS

FOUND IN THE NUCLEUS OF THE ATOM -
MASS ALMOST EXACTLY EQUAL TO THAT OF
THE PROTON
TRANSFERRING OF
SHARED ATOMS
THE ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE OF NOBLE
GASES
• THE ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE OF NOBLE GASES
• THE NOBLE GASES LIKE HELIUM, NEON AND ARGON, WHICH ARE IN
GROUP 0 OF THE PERIODIC TABLE, ARE VERY UNREACTIVE.
• THEY DO NOT FORM BONDS WITH OTHER ATOMS. 
• THEY HAVE FULLY FILLED OUTERMOST (VALENCE) SHELLS.
• EXCEPT FOR HELIUM, WHICH HAS 2 OUTER ELECTRONS, ALL THE
OTHER NOBLE GASES HAVE 8 OUTER ELECTRONS.
THE OUTER SHELL OF 8 ELECTRONS IS CALLED
AN OCTET STRUCTURE AND IT MAKES THE
ATOM VERY STABLE.
• E.G. HELIUM, NEON, ARGON
• ATOMS OF OTHER ELEMENTS BECOME STABLE LIKE THE
NOBLE GASES BY LOSING OR GAINING ELECTRONS OR BY
SHARING ELECTRONS.

• THEY ACHIEVE THIS BY FORMING BONDS WITH OTHER

ATOMS.
IONIC BONDS
• WHEN SODIUM REACTS WITH CHLORINE,
THE SODIUM ATOM LOSES AN ELECTRON
TO BECOME A POSITIVELY CHARGED
SODIUM ION
THE CHLORINE ATOM GAINS AN ELECTRON
TO BECOME A NEGATIVELY CHARGED
CHLORIDE ION
THE POSITIVE SODIUM ION AND THE
NEGATIVE CHLORIDE ION THEN ATTRACT
EACH OTHER TO FORM SODIUM CHLORIDE.
• SODIUM CHLORIDE IS CALLED AN IONIC
COMPOUND.
OTHER IONIC COMPOUNDS
• ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF AN IONIC COMPOUND
IS THAT FORMED BETWEEN MAGNESIUM AND
CHLORINE.
• EACH MAGNESIUM ATOM TRANSFERS 2
ELECTRONS, ONE TO EACH CHLORINE ATOM,
TO FORM MAGNESIUM CHLORIDE.