ACTIVITY

L2. STRUCTURE OF THE ATOM

INTRODUCTION

The origin of matter can be traced back moments after the Big Bang. It is the time when the
universe started to cool to give rise to the building block of matter – the formation of quarks
and electrons. Quarks, a few second later combined to produce protons and neutrons, thus,
forming nucleus. As the continues expansion and cooling of the universe, things began to
move slowly taking electrons to about 380,000 years to be trapped in orbit around the nuclei,
forming the first atom. Hydrogen and helium are still the most abundant element in the
universe that happens to be the first atoms to be produced after the Big Bag. Thus,
everything in the universe is made up of atoms.

Atoms are very small, and composed of even smaller fundamental particles namely, proton,
neutron, and electron. A substance that is composed of single type of atom is called an
element. Elements can be naturally occurring or man-made.

Atoms is mostly empty space. Electrons orbit the dense, small area of protons and neutrons
which is referred to as the nucleus. The composite of neutrons and protons are known as the
nucleons. They are electrically neutral, having the same number of electrons orbiting the
protons in the nucleus. The neutron in the nucleus has no charge, however, they interact
with protons to oppose the mutual repulsion between and among the protons, keeping the
nucleus together.

Protons and neutrons have approximately the same mass, with a proton’s mass being
1.0073 amu, and a neutron’s mass being 1.0087 amu. Electrons are lighter, with the mass of
an electron being 0.000549 amu. As a matter of fact, protons and neutrons are 1830 times
heavier than electrons.

In 1900s, scientists conducted experiments about the structure of an atom and proposed
different models regarding the feature of an atom. The most used model of the atom today is
based on Bohr’s planetary model.

Element has its own unique atom, having a specific number of protons. The number of
protons in the atom determines the element’s atomic number. Elements also have varied
neutron number; this is called the isotope of the atom. Atomic mass is the total number of
protons and neutrons in the nucleus.

ACTIVITY 1. Understanding the atom

Complete the information about atom in the given passage. Use the word box found below.

Neutrons Protons Electrons Nucleus

Atoms Orbit Positive Inside

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 Matters are made up of Atoms. Atoms are comprised of protons, neutrons, and electrons.
Protons have positive charge. Electrons have negative charge and it orbit the atoms center
known as the Nucleus. Neutrons on the other hand, has no charge, and are found inside the
nucleus.

ACTIVITY 2. Atom Builder

Use the ANSTO Atom builder app found in the link

https://www.ansto.gov.au/education/apps. Complete the data table below from the atom
builder app.

Chemical
Proton Name of
Neutrons Electron Symbol Common Uses
s Element
Notation

It is most commonly used in petroleum

refining and fertilizer production,
1 0 1 Hydrogen H
hydrogenation of fats and oils, welding,
reduction of metallic ores
It is most commonly used in
rechargeable batteries for mobile
phones, laptops, digital cameras and
3 3 1 Lithium Li electric vehicles, heat-resistant glass
and ceramics, lithium grease
lubricants, flux additives for iron, steel
and aluminium production,
Glass (e.g., thermally stable
borosilicate glass)
Ceramics (e.g., tile glazes)
Agriculture (e.g., boric acid in liquid
5 5 4 Boron B fertilizers).
Detergents (e.g., sodium perborate in
laundry detergent)
Bleaches (e.g., household and
industrial stain removers)
It is used as a base for the ink in inkjet
printers.In the form of carbon dioxide,
is used in the manufacture of many
fizzy and carbonated drinks. It is also
6 6 6 Carbon C
used in fire extinguishers.Carbon is
also used to manufacture many heat
resistant devices and tools and metal
cutters.
Common uses of oxygen include
production of steel, plastics and
textiles, brazing, welding and cutting of
8 7 8 Oxygen O steels and other metals, rocket
propellant, oxygen therapy, and life
support systems in aircraft,
submarines, spaceflight and diving.

1. What can you infer regarding the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons?

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 The number of protons, neutrons, and electrons in an atom can be determined from a
set of simple rules. The number of protons in the nucleus of the atom is equal to the
atomic number (Z). The number of electrons in a neutral atom is equal to the number
of protons.

2. When is an atom stable or unstable?

An atom is stable if the forces among the particles that makeup the nucleus are
balanced. An atom is unstable (radioactive) if these forces are unbalanced; if the
nucleus has an excess of internal energy. Instability of an atom's nucleus may result
from an excess of either neutrons or protons.

ACTVITY 3. Stable or Unstable Isotopes?

Direction. For each pair of isotopes, identify which is less stable than the other.
48 48 48 48
1. 20 Ca or 21 Sc - 21 Sc is less stable than 20Ca since Scandium is stable at 45Sc.
195 196 195 196
2. 80 Hg or 80 Hg - 80Hg isless stable than 80 Hg since Mercury is stable at196Hg.

23 25 25 23
3. 11 Na or 11 Na - 11 Na is less stable than 11 Na since the only stable isotope of Sodium is
Na.
23

209
4. 83 Bi or 242 242 209
96Cm - 96Cm is less stable than 83 Bi since Bismuth-209 is the most stable
isotope of bismuth.

ACTIVITY 4. Calculating mass defect and binding energy.

3
1. Tritium 1 H is one of the isotopes of hydrogen. The mass of tritium isotope is
1
3.016049 u. (mn = 1.008665 u; m(1 H ) = 1.007825)

a. What is the mass defect of this isotope?

∆m =Z∙mp + (A-Z) ∙mn-M
=1∙2.007384+(3-1)∙1.008665-3.016049
=1.008665 u

b. What is the binding energy?

Binding energy =∆m∙c2

=1.008665 u ∙ 9x1016

=9.4215 eV

c. What is the binding energy per nucleon?

Binding Energy Per Nucleon =(∆m*931.5)/A

=1.008665 u* 931.5)/3
= 2.08742 MeV

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 238
2. (a) Find the total binding energy of 92 U . (b) Calculate its binding energy per nucleon.

∆m =Z∙mp + (A-Z) ∙mn-M = 92∙92+(238-92) ∙146-238.0508=2.95419 X104 u

Binding energy = ∆m∙c2=2.95419 X104 u ∙ 9x1016 = 2.75938 x1013 eV

binding energy per nucleon= (∆m*931.5)/A=(2.95419 X104 u*931.5)/ 238= 1.11932 MeV

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