PHY 142

ATOMIC STRUCTURE
Dr. Bello, S.A.

Dept. of Phy. University of Ilorin 1

 Atomic Structure
All matter is composed of atoms.

Understanding the structure of atoms is

critical to understanding the properties
of matter

Dept. of Phy. University of Ilorin 2

 HISTORY OF THE ATOM

1808 John Dalton

suggested that all matter was made up of

tiny spheres that were able to bounce around

with perfect elasticity and called them

ATOMS

Dept. of Phy. University of Ilorin 3

 Dalton’s Atomic Theory

John Dalton
(1766 – 1844)

Wrote the first atomic theory

1. All elements are composed of tiny indivisible

particles called atoms
2. Atoms of the same element are identical.
Atoms of any one element are different from
those of any other element.
3. Atoms of different elements combine in simple whole-number
ratios to form chemical compounds
4. In chemical reactions, atoms are combined, separated, or
rearranged – but never changed into atoms of another element.
Dept. of Phy. University of Ilorin 4
 FYI……….Isotopes
• Dalton was wrong about all
elements of the same type being
identical
• Atoms of the same element can
have different numbers of neutrons.
• Thus, different mass numbers.
• These are called isotopes.
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 DALTONS ATOMIC THEORY

16 X + 8Y 8 X2Y

Dept. of Phy. University of Ilorin 6

 Subatomic Particles

Mass Charge Charge

Particle
(g) (Coulombs) (units)

Electron (e-) 9.1 x 10-28 -1.6 x 10-19 -1

-24 -19
Proton (p) 1.67 x 10 +1.6 x 10 +1

Neutron (n) 1.67 x 10-24 0 0

mass p = Dept.
mass n = 1840 x mass e -
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 HISTORY OF THE ATOM

1898 Joseph John Thompson

found that atoms could sometimes eject a far

smaller negative particle which he called an

ELECTRON

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A = alpha J.J. Thomson, measured mass/charge of e-
B = gamma
C = beta (1906 Nobel Prize in Physics)
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CHARGE OF AN ELECTRON
gold foil

helium nuclei

Millikan oil drop

Dept. of Phy. University of Ilorin
experiment 10
 Thomson: “Plum Pudding” or
“Chocolate Chip Cookie” Model
• Using available data on the atom, J.J. Thomson
came up with the idea of having charges embedded
with Dalton’s Billiard Balls
• Also used cathode ray experiment to discover the
existance of the electron

positive negative
(evenly distributed) “chocolate”
“dough”
part

note: this model kept Dalton’s key ideas intact

Dept. of Phy. University of Ilorin 11
 HISTORY OF THE ATOM

1910 Ernest Rutherford

oversaw Geiger and Marsden carrying out his

famous experiment.

they fired Helium nuclei at a piece of gold foil

which was only a few atoms thick.

they found that although most of them

passed through. About 1 in 10,000 hit

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Rutherford’s experiment.

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Plum Pudding model of an atom.

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Results of foil experiment if Plum
Pudding model had been correct.

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Actual Results.

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A nuclear atom viewed in cross
section.

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Rutherford’s Model of the Atom

atomic radius ~ 100 pm = 1 x 10-10 m

nuclear radiusDept.
~5 x 10 -3 pm = 5 x 10-15 m
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 Atomic Structure
Atoms are composed of
-protons – positively charged particles
-neutrons – neutral particles
-electrons – negatively charged particles

Protons and neutrons are located in the

nucleus. Electrons are found in orbitals
surrounding the nucleus.
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 HELIUM ATOM
Shell
proton

+
N
-
+
- N

electron neutron

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 Atomic Structure
Every different atom has a characteristic
number of protons in the nucleus.

atomic number = number of protons

Atoms with the same atomic number

have the same chemical properties and
belong to the same element.
Dept. of Phy. University of Ilorin 21
 Atomic Structure
Each proton and neutron has a mass of
approximately 1 dalton.

The sum of protons and neutrons is the atom’s

atomic mass.

Isotopes – atoms of the same element that

have different atomic mass numbers due to
different numbers of neutrons.
Dept. of Phy. University of Ilorin 22
 ATOMIC STRUCTURE

He
Atomic mass

4
the number of protons and
neutrons in an atom

Atomic number 2
the number of protons in an atom

number of electrons = number of protons

Dept. of Phy. University of Ilorin 23

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
ZX
Element Symbol
Atomic Number

1 2 3
1H 1H (D) 1H (T)
235 238
92 U 92 U
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Atomic Structure

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Atomic Structure

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Two isotopes of sodium.

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 HISTORY OF THE ATOM

1913 Niels Bohr

studied under Rutherford at the Victoria

University in Manchester.

Bohr refined Rutherford's idea by adding

that the electrons were in orbits. Rather
like planets orbiting the sun. With each
orbit only able to contain a set number of
electrons.

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ELECTRONS IN ORBIT ABOUT
THE NUCLEUS

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 Bohr’s Model of
the Atom (1913)
1. e- can have only specific
(quantized) energy values
2. light is emitted as e- moves
from one energy level to a
lower energy level

n (principal quantum number) = 1,2,3,…

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The Bohr Model of the Atom

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Atomic Structure

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 Electron orbit and the Bohr
Model of Hydrogen
• Bohr’s hypothesis established
the relationship between
atomic spectra and energy
levels.
Therefore,

(1)

Figure: Calculating the angular momentum of

an electron in a circular orbit around an
atomic nucleus.

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Application of Newtonian Law to
model of the hydrogen atom
• In hydrogen the force F is
provided by the electrical
attraction between the
positive proton and the
negative electron.
 From Coulomb’s law,

(2)

 From Centripetal force,

Dept. of Phy. University of Ilorin (3)

34
 Electron orbit and the Bohr
Model of Hydrogen
From Newton’s second law, we have

(4)

When we solve Eqs. (1) and (4) simultaneously for 𝑟𝑛 and 𝑣𝑛 we get

(5)

(6)

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 According to De Broglie, that,
ℎ
ħ=
2𝜋

We can therefore write Eq. (5) as:

(7)

Eqs. (5) and (7) show that the orbit radius is proportional to , so
the smallest orbit radius corresponds to We’ll denote this
minimum radius, called the Bohr radius, as 𝑎0

(or) (8)

We can re-write Eqs. (5) and (7) as

Dept. of Phy. University of Ilorin (9) 36
 Assignment 1
• What is the numeric value of the Bohr
radius, as 𝑎0 ?
• Using the value of 𝑎0 , show that the
atomic diameter is approximately equals
to 10−10 𝑚 = 0.1 𝑛𝑚

Dept. of Phy. University of Ilorin 37

 Hydrogen Energy Levels in the
Bohr Model
We can now use Eqs. (5) and (6) to find the kinetic and
potential energies 𝐾𝑛 and 𝑈𝑛 when the electron is in the
orbit with quantum number 𝑛

(10)

(11)

The total energy 𝐸𝑛 is the sum of the kinetic and potential energies:

(12)
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 Assignment 2
Recall Eq. (12):

From Eq. (12), show that

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 Since 𝐸𝑛 in Eq. (12) has a different value for each 𝑛, you
can see that this equation gives the energy levels of the
hydrogen atom in the Bohr model.

 Each distinct orbit corresponds to a distinct energy level.

Dept. of Phy. University of Ilorin 40
 The Bohr Model of the Atom:
Ground and Excited States
• In the Bohr model of hydrogen, the lowest amount
of energy hydrogen’s one electron can have
corresponds to being in the n = 1 orbit. We call this
its ground state.
• When the atom gains energy, the electron leaps to a
higher energy orbit. We call this an excited state.
• The atom is less stable in an excited state and so it
will release the extra energy to return to the ground
state.
– Either all at once or in several steps.

Dept. of Phy. University of Ilorin 41

 Line Emission Spectrum of Hydrogen Atoms

Every element has

Dept. a unique
of Phy. emission
University of Ilorin spectrum 42
 The Bohr Model of the Atom:
Hydrogen Spectrum
• Every hydrogen atom has identical orbits, so every
hydrogen atom can undergo the same energy
transitions.
• However, since the distances between the orbits in
an atom are not all the same, no two leaps in an
atom will have the same energy.
– The closer the orbits are in energy, the lower
the energy of the photon emitted.
– Lower energy photon = longer wavelength.
• Therefore, we get an emission spectrum that has a
lot of lines that are unique to hydrogen.
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Dept. of Phy. University of Ilorin 44
 Dept. of Phy. University of Ilorin

We then have,
ℎ𝑐
𝐸 = ℎ𝑓 =
𝜆
Now we solve for the wavelength of
the photon emitted in a transition
from level 𝑛𝑈 to level 𝑛𝐿
Δ𝐸 = 𝐸𝑛𝑢 − 𝐸𝑛𝐿
Thus,
ℎ𝑐 1 𝑚𝑒 4 1 𝑚𝑒 4
= 𝐸𝑛𝑢 − 𝐸𝑛𝐿 = − 2 2 2 − − 2 2 2
𝜆 𝜀0 8𝑛𝑈 ℎ 𝜀0 8𝑛𝐿 ℎ

ℎ𝑐 1 𝑚𝑒 4 1 1
= 2 2 2 − 2
𝜆 𝜀0 8ℎ 𝑛𝐿 𝑛𝑈

1 1 𝑚𝑒 4 1 1
= 2 3 2 − 2 45
𝜆 𝜀0 8ℎ 𝑐 𝑛𝐿 𝑛𝑈
 1 1 𝑚𝑒 4 1 1
= 2 3 2 − 2
𝜆 𝜀0 8ℎ 𝑐 𝑛𝐿 𝑛𝑈

1 1 1
=𝑅 2− 2
𝜆 𝑛𝐿 𝑛𝑈

1 𝑚𝑒 4
𝑅= 2 3
𝜀0 8ℎ 𝑐
The quantity R is called the Rydberg constant
(named for the Swedish physicist Johannes Rydberg,
who did pioneering work on the hydrogen
spectrum).
R = 1.0974 x 107 m–1
n is the principal quantum number
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 1 1 1
=𝑅 2− 2
𝜆 𝑛𝐿 𝑛𝑈

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 Example 1

(b) What is the energy difference between the states?

Solution

(a) Solution worked out in the class

(b)

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 Example
• Using the spectral line
diagram, determine the
wavelength of the first
Lyman line. The transition
from n = 2 to n = 1. In what
region of the electromagnetic
spectrum does this lie?

Dept. of Phy. University of Ilorin 49

 Example Contd.
• Wavelength of a Balmer line. Use the Bohr model to
determine the wavelength of light emitted when a
hydrogen atom makes a transition from n = 6 to the n =
2 energy level
1 1 1
= RH ( n2i n2f
)

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