THE ATOMIC

THEORY
 The atom for the Ancient Greeks
• Around 450 B.C. Empedocles proposed that
there were four fundamental substances.
• These include air, water, earth and life.
• These substances constitute all matter and the
ratio of these four elements affected the
properties of matter.
• But there was a problem with Empedocles’ theory. It
cannot explain why smallest piece of stone that was
taken from the original does not resemble any of
four elements.
• Even so, his theory was considered a very important
development in the field of science and it was the
first one to suggest that some substances that look
like pure metals mere actually made up of a
combination of the different “elements”.
 Democritus
• After a few decades, Democritus developed another
theory of matter.
• According to him, if a stone is cut into a smaller and
smaller pieces at some point a piece so tiny that
could no longer be divided will be obtained.
• He called this very tiny pieces of matter “atomos”
which means indivisible.
• He believed that everything in the universe was
made up of atoms.
• Unfortunately, Aristotle and Plato, two best known of ancient
Greece did not accept the atomic ideas of Democritus.
• Aristotle accepted the ideas of Empedocles and he even added
his own idea that the four substances (earth, water, air and fire)
could be transformed into other substances.
• He associated the four elemental substances with four qualities:
hot, moist, cold and dry.
• For him, an element is converted into another element upon
the addition or removal of the appropriate properties.
• And because of his great influence, Democritus’ theory waited
for almost 2000 years before it was rediscovered.
THE SCIENTIFIC
REVOLUTION
• The 17th century marked the beginning of
the Scientific Revolution.
• In the 17th and 18th centuries, several
major events led to the revival of
Democritus’ Theory that matter was
made of small, indivisible particles.
 JOHN DALTON

• he suggested that all matter

was made up of tiny spheres
that were able to bounce
around with perfect elasticity
and called them ATOMS
 Solid Sphere
Model

• Like Democritus, Dalton thought an atom was a

tiny, irreducible sphere that could not be
destroyed.
John Dalton
• After experimenting
with gases,
especially hydrogen,
methane and
oxygen, Dalton
rediscovered the
particle theory of
matter.
 FOUR MAIN CONCEPTS OF DALTON’S THEORY

• All matter is composed of indivisible particles called

atoms
• All atoms of a given element are identical; atoms of
different elements have different properties
• Chemical reactions involve the combination of
atoms, not the destruction of atoms
• When elements react to form a compound, they
react in defined, whole number ratios.
 J.J Thomson
• Excited by the discovery of X-rays a couple of years
earlier, Joseph J. Thomson played around with
radioactive waves and discovered that atoms have
electrical charges.
• J. J. Thompson discovered the existence of electrons in
1897 when performing a series of experiments to study
the characteristics of electric discharge in a high
voltage vacuum cathode- ray tube.
• Not only that, but he also discovered that those
charges come from small particles which make up part
of the atom. He called the particles electrons.
• Thomson thought that atoms
consisted of positively- +
charged main bodies and ---
attached to these were the + ---
negatively-charged electrons +
--- +
(plum pudding model). He
was wrong about the details,
but his discovery that atoms
can be broken down into
even smaller parts earned
him science immortality.
 Earnest Rutherford
• A student of Thompson, Rutherford designed a very
famous experiment that proved that the atom is
mostly empty space: he bombarded a very thin piece
of gold leaf with alpha particles.
• Although some alpha particles were reflected, most
passed through, proving that a dense nucleus was at
the center of the atom, but not much else.
 Niels Bohr
• Bohr improved Rutherford’s
model by noticing that energy
levels in atoms went up and
down by specific, “pre-set”
amounts.
• He suggested that electrons
move around the nucleus of an
atom like planets around the sun,
and that they move from orbit to
orbit as they gain and lose energy.
Bohr’s Atom electrons in orbits

nucleus
 HELIUM ATOM
Shell
proton

+
N
-
+
- N

electron neutron

What do these particles consist of?

ATOMS
• Atoms are the basic building blocks of
ordinary matter.
• Atoms can join together to form
molecules, which in turn form most of
the objects around you.
• Atoms are composed of particles called
protons, electrons and neutrons.
 ATOMIC STRUCTURE
Particle Charge

proton + ve charge

neutron No charge

electron -ve charge

 ATOMIC STRUCTURE

He
Atomic number
the number of protons in an
atom

4 Atomic mass
the number of protons and
neutrons in an atom

number of electrons = number of protons

ATOMIC NUMBER (Z) = number of protons in nucleus
MASS NUMBER (A) = number of protons + number of neutrons
= atomic number (Z) + number of neutrons
ISOTOPS are atoms of the same element (X) with different numbers of
neutrons in the nucleus
Mass Number A
Atomic Number Z X Element Symbol

1 2 3
1 H 1 H (D) 1 H (T)
235 238
92 U 92 U
 ATOMIC STRUCTURE

Electrons are arranged in Energy Levels or

Shells around the nucleus of an atom.

• first shell = a maximum of 2 electrons

• second shell = a maximum of 8 electrons
• third shell = a maximum of 18 electrons
 How exactly are the particles arranged?

• Bohr Model of the atom:

Reviewers think this could lead to misconceptions! All of the
protons and
the neutrons
The 3rd ring
can hold up
to 18 e- The 1st ring can
The 4th ring hold up to 2 e-
and any after The 2nd ring can
can hold up to hold up to 8 e-
32 e-
 Protons (+) - -
-
• Positively charged ++ +
particles - + + + -
• Help make up the + +
nucleus of the atom -
• Help identify the atom - -
(could be considered an
atom’s DNA)
• Equal to the atomic
number of the atom
• Contribute to the
atomic mass
+
• Equal to the number of
electrons
 - -
Neutrons
-
• Neutral particles;
++ +
- + + + - have no electric
+ + charge
-
- - • Help make up the
nucleus of the
atom
• Contribute to the
atomic mass
 Electrons (-) - -
• Negatively charged particles -
• Found outside the nucleus of ++ +
the atom, in the electron - + + + -
orbits/levels; each orbit/level + +
can hold a maximum number -
of electrons ( 1st = 2, 2nd = 8, 3rd =
8 or 18, etc…) - -
• Move so rapidly around the
nucleus that they create an
electron cloud
• Mass is insignificant when
compared to protons and
neutrons
-
• Equal to the number of
protons
• Involved in the formation of
chemical bonds
 The Atom’s “Center”
• Protons and neutrons are grouped together to
form the “center” or nucleus of an atom.
Notice that the electrons are not apart of the nucleus

-
-
+
+ +
-
 Mass Number
• The total number of protons and neutrons in an atom’s nucleus
• Expressed in Atomic Mass Units (amu)
– Each proton or neutron has a mass of 1 amu

What would be the mass

number of this atom? -

+ → 3
→ 4
+ -
3 protons + 4 neutrons =
a mass number of 7 amu ++
Why did we not account for the -
electrons when calculating the
mass number?
 Building Atoms
Using the whiteboard and the proton, neutron,
and electron pieces, build the following atoms,
and determine their atomic and mass numbers.

Atoms Protons Neutrons Electrons

Carbon 6 6 6
Beryllium 4 5 4
Oxygen 8 8 8
Lithium 3 4 3
Sodium 11 12 11
SAMPLE EXERCISE
ELEMENT SYMBOL ATOMIC MASS NO. OF NO. OF NO. OF
NO. NUMBER PROTONS ELECTRONS NEUTRONS

Sodium 11 12

K 39 19

Strontium 38 50

F 9 10

Calcium 20 40 20

Sn 50 50 69

Iodine 53 127

Mg 12 12

Silver 108 47 47

H 1 1 1

Sulfur 32 16
 SUMMARY

1. The Atomic Number of an atom = number of

protons in the nucleus.

2. The Atomic Mass of an atom = number of

Protons + Neutrons in the nucleus.

3. The number of Protons = Number of Electrons.

4. Electrons orbit the nucleus in shells.

5. Each shell can only carry a set number of electrons.