ATOMIC

STRUCTURE
 DEFINITIONS
Element
 A substance made of atoms that all contain the same number of protons (one type of atom) and cannot be split into
anything simpler
 There is a limited number of elements and all elements are found on the Periodic Table
 Eg hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen
Compound
 A pure substance made up of two or more elements chemically combined
 There is an unlimited number of compounds
 Compounds cannot be separated into their elements by physical means
 Eg copper (II) sulphate (CuSO4), calcium carbonate (CaCO3), carbon dioxide (CO2)
Mixture
 A combination of two or more substances (elements and/or compounds) that are not chemically combined
 Mixtures can be separated by physical methods such as filtration or evaporation
 Eg sand and water, oil and water, sulphur powder and iron filings
 ATOM
 Elements are made of tiny particles of matter called atoms
 Their size is so tiny that we can’t really compare their masses in conventional
units such as kilograms or grams, so a unit called the relative atomic mass is
used
 One relative atomic mass unit is equal to the mass of a carbon-12 atom.
 All other elements are measured relative to the mass of a carbon-12 atom and
since these are ratios, the relative atomic mass has no units
Example: Hydrogen has a relative atomic mass of 1, meaning that 12 atoms of
hydrogen would have exactly the same mass as 1 atom of carbon
 ATOMIC STRUCTURE
 Each atom is made of subatomic particles called protons, neutrons and electrons

ELECTRON SHELLS

Mass number =number of proton+ number of neutron

Atomic number=number of proton= number of electron

REPRESENTATION IN PERIOD TABLE
 REPRESENTATION IN PERIOD TABLE
ATOMIC NUMBER= NUMBER OF PROTON= NUMBER OF ELECTRON

MASS NUMBER = NUMBER OF NUCLEONS IN NUCLEUS= NUMBER OF

PROTON+ NUMBER OF NEUTRON
EXAMPLE: Fill in the blank in the table
below:
Name of Mass Atomic Number of Number of Number of
atom number number electrons protons neutron
Potassium 39 19
Mercury 201 80
40 20
13 14
9 10
56 26
32 16
65 35
 ISOTOPES
 Isotopes are atoms of the same element that contain the same number
of protons and electrons but a different number of neutrons.
EXAMPLE

 The symbol for an isotope is the chemical symbol (or word) followed by a dash and
then the mass number.
EXAMPLE 2: C-14 is the isotope of carbon which contains 6 protons, 6 electrons and 14
– 6 = 8 neutrons.
 Isotopes have similar chemical properties as they have same number of electrons
 ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE

 Electrons (symbol e–) move very fast around the nucleus

 They move in orbital paths called shells
 It decides the chemical properties of an atom
 We can represent the structure of the atom in two ways: using diagrams
called electron shell diagrams or by writing out a special notation called
the electronic configuration
 ELECTRON SHELL DIAGRAM
 Electrons orbit the nucleus in shells (or energy levels) and each shell has a
different amount of energy associated with it
 The further away from the nucleus then the more energy a shell has.
 Electrons occupy the shell closest to the nucleus which can hold only 2 electrons
and which go in separately
 When a shell becomes full electrons then fill the next shell
 The second shell can hold 8 electrons and the third shell can also hold 8 electrons
and the electrons organise themselves in pairs in these shells
 The outermost shell of an atom is called the valence shell and an atom is much
more stable if it can manage to completely fill this shell with electrons
 ELECTRON CONFIGURATION
The arrangement of electrons in shells can also be explained using numbers
There is a clear relationship between the outer shell electrons and how the
Periodic Table is designed
The number of notations in the electronic configuration will show the number of
shells of electrons the atom has, showing the Period in which that element is in
The last notation shows the number of outer electrons the atom has, showing
the Group that element is in
Elements in the same Group have the same number of outer shell electrons
PRACTICE: Find out electronic
configuration of following element:
ELEMENT ATOMIC NUMBER ELECTRONIC
CONFIGURATION
BORON 5
NITROGEN 7
FLUORINE 9
MAGNESIUM 12
HELIUM 2
POTASSIUM 19
PHOSPHORUS 15
SODIUM 11
ARGON 18
Boron
atomic= 5
Electronic configuration: 2.3
Potasium
atomic number: 19
PRACTICE: Find out electronic figuration
of following element: