CHAPTER - 3

STRUCTURE OF THE ATOM

CLASS :- XI
TEACHER :- ALI RAZA
STRUCTURE OF THE ATOM
 ATOM
Smallest particle of an element which shows all properties of element is
called atom. Some characteristics of "atoms" are as follows:
 Atom takes part in chemical reactions independently.
 Atom can be divided into a number of sub-atomic particles.
 Fundamental particles of atom are electron, proton and neutron.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF ELECTRON
 Charge: It is a negatively charged particle.
 Magnitude of charge: Charge of electron is 1.6022 x 10-19 C.
 Mass of electron: Mass of electron is 0.000548597 a.m.u. or
9.1 x 10-31 kg.
 Symbol of electron: Electron is represented by "e".
 Location in the atom: Electrons revolve around the nucleus of
atom in different circular orbits.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF PROTON

 Charge: Proton is a positively charged particle.

 Magnitude of charge: Charge of proton is 1.6022 x 10-19 C.
 Mass of proton: Mass of proton is 1.072766 a.m.u. or
1.6726 x 10-27 kg.
 Comparative mass: Proton is 1837 times heavier than an electron.
 Position in atom: Protons are present in the nucleus of atom.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEUTRON

 Charge: It is a neutral particle because it has no charge.

 Mass of neutron: Mass of neutron is 1.0086654 a.m.u. or
1.6749 x 10-27 kg.
 Comparative mass: Neutron is 1842 times heavier than an electron.
 Location in the atom: Neutrons are present in the nucleus of an
atom.
 ATOMIC NUMBER
Total number of protons present in the nucleus of an atom is called
"Atomic number" or "Charge number"
Since the total number of protons and the total number of electrons in an
atom are equal therefore atomic number may also be defined as:

"Total number of electron in an atom is called Atomic number"

SYMBOL: It is denoted by "z".

 MASS NUMBER

Total number of protons and neutrons present in the nucleus of an atom

is called "Mass number".

SYMBOL: It is denoted by "A".

A=p+n
 ISOTOPES
Isotopes are atoms of the same element having the same atomic
numbers but different mass numbers.
E.g. Hydrogen has three isotopes. They are Protium, Deuterium
(D) and Tritium (T).
 ISOBARS
Isobars are atoms of different elements having different atomic
numbers but same mass numbers.
These pairs of elements have the same number of nucleons.
E.g. Calcium (Ca) – atomic number - 20 and Argon (Ar) – atomic
number 18 have different atomic numbers but have the same mass
numbers – 40.
40 40

20
Ca 18
Ar

58 58

26
Fe 27
Ni
 DISCOVERY OF ELECTRON

Evidence for the presence of electrons, protons and neutrons on the

atom is derived through many experiments such as:
1) Faraday’s experiment indicates the existence of electrons.
2) Crook’s tube experiment shows the presence of electron and
protons in the atoms.
3) Radioactivity further confirmed the presence of electron and
protons.
4) Chadwick experiment shows the presence of neutrons.
 FARADAY’S EXPERIMENT
Passage of Electricity Through
Solutions:
Clue about Electrons: We first consider the passage of electricity
through chemical solution called electrolytes.
 Earlier Humphrey Davy had noticed that electric charges appear
when solutions decompose by the passage of an electric current.
 Latter this phenomenon was studied in greater details by Michael
Faraday.
 The basic unit of electric charge was latter named by Stoney (1891)
as Electron.
 DISCHARGE TUBE EXPERIMENT
INTRODUCTION:
Gases are bad conductors of electricity. However under reduced
pressure and at high potential difference gases conduct electric current
DISCHARGE TUBE
Discharge tube is a glass tube fitted with two electrodes placed opposite
to each other. The tube is sealed and contains a vacuum pump. The
function of vacuum pump is to reduced or change the pressure inside
the tube. The two electrodes are connected to a high voltage battery.
THE EXPERIMENT
In discharge tube experiment, at low pressure and at very high
potential difference, electric current is passed through the gas.
OBSERVATION
Under different pressure different observations were noted;
At 1cm Hg pressure:
When pressure inside the tube is reduced to 1 cm of Hg, at a potential difference
of a few thousand volts causes a spark to pass like a flash of light.
At 1 mm Hg:
At 1 mm Hg, the tube is mostly filled with a glow extending from the positive
electrode. This is known as "positive column".
At 0.001 mm Hg:
At 0.001 m Hg, the glow disappears and the walls of the glass tube begin to glow
with a brilliant green light.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXOeehVTcRA
RESULT
These observations indicate that some radiation or rays are emitted
from cathode. These rays are known as "Cathode Rays".

 J.J. Thomson modified the

cathode ray tube experiments in
1896 by adding two adjustable
voltage electrodes.
 Studied the amount that the
cathode ray beam was
deflected by additional electric
field.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9Goyscbazk&feature=youtu.be
 PROPERTIES OF CATHODE RAYS
 Modifications to the basic cathode ray tube experiment show the
nature of cathode rays

(a) A cathode ray discharge tube,

showing the production of a beam
of electrons (cathode rays). The
beam is detected by observing the
glow on a fluorescent screen.

(b) A small object placed in front

of the beam, casts a shadow
indicating that cathode rays
travel in straight lines.
 PROPERTIES OF CATHODE RAYS

(c) Cathode rays have a negative

electrical charge, as demonstrated
by their deflection in an electrical
field.
(d) Interaction with a magnetic
field also consistent with
negative charge.

(e) Cathode rays have mass, as

shown by their ability to turn a
small paddle wheel in their path.
 PROPERTIES OF CATHODE RAYS

• Thomson used his modification to measure the charge to

mass ratio of electrons.
Charge to mass ratio
e/m = -1.75881 x 108 coulomb/g of e-

• Thomson named the cathode rays electrons.

• Thomson is considered to be the “discoverer of electrons”.

 DISCOVERY OF PROTON

 Passage of electricity through the gases at low pressure also

resulted in the discovery of proton.
 During the discharge tube experiments, a famous scientist E.
Gold Stein observed that if a perforated cathode is used, some
radiations appear behind the cathode.
 Since radiations are coming from anode, therefore, it was
assumed that they must carry a positive charge.
 These rays are known as Anode Rays or Canal Rays.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epv-InjM9JM
 PROPERTIES OF CANAL RAYS

 Anode rays travel in straight line.

 They consist of material particles.
 These rays contain positive charge.
 These rays actually consist of positive ions of various gases used
in the experiment.
 Their positive charge is either equal to electronic charge (e).
 These particles which have a mass 1837 times that of the
electron are known as protons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8PeUNSVKo0
 DISCOVERY OF NEUTRON
CHADWICK EXPERIMENT
 Chadwick in an experiment bombarded Be with a-particles.
 In his experiment he observe that some very penetrating radiations
coming out from Be.
 These radiations consist of material particles.
 Mass of these particles was nearly equal to the mass of one hydrogen
atom.
 Since these particles were not deflected by magnetic or electric field,
therefore they are named as Neutrons.

Be 9 + He4 C 12 + n1
4 2 6 0
 RADIOACTIVITY

 The spontaneous disintegration of unstable nucleus of an atom by

which some invisible radiation are emit out this phenomenon is
known as radioactivity.
 All the elements having atomic number greater than 82 emit
invisible radiation all the time.
 The element that emits such rays is called "Radio Active
Elements".
 TYPES OF RADIOACTIVE RAYS

There are three types of radioactive rays:

 Alpha – (α) Rays
 Beta – (β) RAYS
 Gamma – (γ) RAYS
 PROPERTIES OF ALPHA (α) RAYS

 NATURE: α - rays consist of α particle. Each α particle

consists of 2He4 nucleus.
 CHARGE: a - particle carry positive charge.
 IONIZATION: Ionization power of a - rays is very high.
 MASS: Mass of each a - particle is 4 times that of a proton or H-atom.
 PENETRATION POWER: Penetration power of a - rays is very small.
 IONIZATION CAPABILITY : They have strong ionizing power
because they remove electrons from the atoms of gas through which
they pass.
 VELOCITY: Their velocity range is 3 x 107 m/s to 3 x 106 m/s.
 PROPERTIES OF BETA (β) RAYS

 NATURE: β - rays consist of fast moving electrons.

 CHARGE: β - rays have negative charge.
 VELOCITY: Velocity of β - rays is from 9 x 107 m/sec to 27 x 107 m/sec.
 IONIZTION POWER: Ionization power of β - rays is very small.
 PENETRATION POWER: Penetration power of β - rays is higher than
alpha rays.
 PROPERTIES OF GAMMA (γ) RAYS

 NATURE: γ - rays are electromagnetic radiations.

 CHARGE: γ - rays are no charge.
 VELOCITY: γ - rays travel with the velocity of light that is
3 x 108 m/sec.
 PENETRATION POWER: Penetration power of γ - rays is very large.
It is about hundred times larger than that of b -rays.