Thai-Singapore International School

IGCSE Co-ordinated Sciences 2022/2023 Teacher’s Copy

Chemistry Lecture Notes 2
Atomic Structure and Electronic Configuration

Contents
• Atomic structure, sub-atomic particles
• Relative mass and relative charge of protons, neutrons and electrons
• Proton number (atomic number), nucleon number (mass number), isotopes, radioisotopes
• Electronic configuration, electron shells

Learning outcomes
Candidates should be able to:
[C3.3 Atomic structure and the Periodic Table]
1 Describe the structure of an atom in terms of a central nucleus, containing protons and neutrons,
and ‘shells’ of electrons
2 Describe the build-up of electrons in ‘shells’ and understand the significance of the noble gas
electronic structures and of the outer-shell electrons
3 State the charges and approximate relative masses of protons, neutrons and electrons
4 Define and use proton number (atomic number) as the number of protons in the nucleus of an
atom
5 Define and use nucleon number (mass number) as the total number of protons and neutrons in
the nucleus of an atom
6 Use proton number and the simple structure of atoms to explain the basis of the Periodic Table,
with special reference to the elements of proton numbers 1 to 20
7 Define isotopes as atoms of the same element which have the same proton number but a
different nucleon number
8 Understand that isotopes have the same properties because they have the same number of
electrons in their outer shell

References
• Cambridge IGCSE® Combined and Co-ordinated Sciences: Cambridge University Press 2017
• Some images retrieved from Google Images

Lecture outline
1 ATOMIC STRUCTURE .................................................................................................................. 1
1.1 The atom ................................................................................................................................. 1
1.2 The sub-atomic particles ......................................................................................................... 1
1.3 Representation of a nuclide (isotope notation) ....................................................................... 1
1.4 Isotopes ................................................................................................................................... 2
1.5 Radioactive isotopes (radioisotopes) ...................................................................................... 2
2 ELECTRONIC CONFIGURATION ................................................................................................. 3
2.1 Arrangement of electrons ........................................................................................................ 3
2.2 Drawing the electron arrangement of an atom ........................................................................ 3
Appendix ................................................................................................................................................ 4

Estimated teaching time: 2 hours

Prepared by Mr Samuel Tan Page i of i Version 1 (01 Nov 2022)

 1 ATOMIC STRUCTURE

1.1 The atom

• Matter is made up of tiny particles called atoms.

• An atom is the smallest particle found in an element that can take part in a chemical
reaction.

• It consists of a centrally dense nucleus surrounded by mostly

empty space in which electrons move.

• The diameter of an atom is approximately 10−10 m (~ 0.1 nm),

while the diameter of its nucleus is approximately 10−15 m —
100,000 times smaller!

1.2 The sub-atomic particles

• An atom contains three sub-atomic particles with the following characteristics:

Sub-atomic
proton neutron electron
particle
1 1
Relative mass 1 1 or
1836 1840
Relative charge +1 0 −1
Location within
in the nucleus around the nucleus
the atom

1.3 Representation of a nuclide (isotope notation)

• A nuclide is any species of given mass number and atomic number.

• The nuclide of an element is represented by:

238
A
X U
nucleon number
(or mass number)

proton number Z 92
(or atomic number) atomic symbol

Nucleon number
= A
(total number of protons and neutrons)
Nucleon number = 238
No. of protons = 92
Number of protons = Z
No. of neutrons = 146
Number of neutrons = A−Z

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 • The proton number (or atomic number, Z) is the number of protons in the
nucleus.

• The nucleon number (or mass number, A) is the total number of protons and
neutrons in the nucleus.

NOTE! Do not confuse the isotope notation with the “cells” in the Periodic Table,
which show relative atomic mass instead of nucleon number.

1.4 Isotopes

• Isotopes of an element are atoms containing the same number of protons but
different number of neutrons in the nucleus.

• They are referred to using the following formats:

1 2 3 4 12 13 14
symbol: 1H 1H 1H 2He 6C 6C 6C

name: hydrogen-1 hydrogen-2 hydrogen-3 helium-4 carbon-12 carbon-13 carbon-14

(deuterium) (tritium)

• Isotopes have the same number of electrons, hence they have the same chemical
properties.

• Isotopes have different number of neutrons (thus different mass), hence they have
different physical properties (e.g. density).

Worked example 1 Worked example 1

Complete the following table.

Nucleon number No. of p+ No. of n No. of e−

23
11Na
79
35Br
81
35Br
🐵

1.5 Radioactive isotopes (radioisotopes)

• Some isotopes are unstable due to the imbalance of neutrons and protons. The
nuclei of these isotopes spontaneously break up to form smaller atoms, giving off
certain types of radiation.
→ carbon-14 (used in carbon dating)
→ uranium-235 (used in nuclear reactors)

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 2 ELECTRONIC CONFIGURATION

2.1 Arrangement of electrons

• Electrons are found in electron shells or energy levels around the nucleus.

• The distribution of electrons in the shells of an atom is known as the electron

arrangement, electron(ic) configuration or electron(ic) structure.

• Each shell has a maximum capacity:

Which shell? Energy of shell Max. # of electrons in shell

1st lowest 2
2nd 8
3rd 8
4th highest 8

• Each energy level is filled with electrons until it is full, starting from the first energy
level, followed by the second, then the third, etc.

2.2 Drawing the electron arrangement of an atom

• Draw the nucleus in the centre and then draw circles around the nucleus. The 1st
energy level is the one closest to the nucleus.

• Instead of drawing the shells out, we can represent them using a simple notation
e.g. 2.8.8.2 for a calcium atom which has 20 electrons.

Exercise 1 Exercise 1
Choose any two elements from
proton number 1 to 20 and draw
out its electronic structure.
Write down the notation.

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 Appendix

Absolute mass and charge of protons, neutrons and electrons

Sub-atomic
proton neutron electron
particle
Ernest Rutherford James Chadwick Joseph John
Discovered by (1911) (1932) Thomson (1897)
bombardment of bombardment of
cathode ray
Experiment gold (Au) foil with beryllium (Be) with
experiment
alpha particles alpha particles
Location within
in the nucleus around the nucleus
the atom
Actual mass / kg 1.67 × 10−27 1.67 × 10−27 9.11 × 10−31
1 1
Relative mass 1 1
1836
or 1840

Actual charge / C +1.67 × 10−19 0 −1.67 × 10−19

Relative charge +1 0 −1
1 1 0
Symbol 1
p / p+ 0n -1e / e−

• The relative mass and relative charge are calculated based on the proton’s actual
mass and actual charge respectively.

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