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1.1.1 – Fundamental particles

As with every aspect of science, our knowledge of chemistry and of the

fundamental particles of chemistry have changed and evolved over a
long period of time.

For the purposes of A-Level, atoms are made up of three fundamental

particles:

Protons

Neutrons

Electrons

These are called sub-atomic particles.

Protons and neutrons are always located in the nucleus of the atom,
with the electrons orbiting around them in what are variously called
“shells”, “orbitals” or “energy levels”.

The physical characteristics of these particles are as follows:

Particle Charge (C) Mass (kg) Location

Previous page Next page
Protons + 1.602 x 10-19 1.673 x 10-27 Nucleus

Neutrons None 1.675 x 10-27 Nucleus

Electrons - 1.602 x 10-19 0.911 x 10-30 Orbit Around Nucleus

Note that charge (C) is measured in coulombs.

The values for charge and mass in the above table are incredibly small,
so they are normally represented as follows:

Particle Charge Relative Mass

Protons + 1

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2022/1/28 上午9:17 Course Content (c) Open Study College

Neutrons None 1

Electrons - 1/1840

Activity 1
How many electrons would be needed to equal the mass of one
neutron?

Click here to reveal the answer

Answer to Activity 1:

The mass of an electron is 1/1840 and therefore you would need

1840 electrons to equal the weight of just one neutron (or, indeed,
one proton).

Atoms are complex to draw, particularly when

they are large, and there are a great many
sub-atomic particles to represent. The
illustration of the nitrogen atom below is
typical:

The protons and neutrons are not illustrated

(you will see how to calculate their number
later) and the electrons are represented as
dots in different shells.

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