Introduction to the structure of matter

program

The structure of matter course is made up of 6 chapters which are:

CHAPTER-1 : Introduction to the structure of matter

CHAPTER6-II : Radioactivity and nuclear reactions

CHAPTER- III : The electronic structure of atoms

CHAPTER VI : Introduction to quantum mechanics

CHAPTER- V: the periodic classification of elements

CHAPTER- VI : the chemical bond

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 CHAPTER-I : introduction to the structure of matter

I- Definition of matter:

Matter is the substance that constitutes the objects that surround us (all matter is made up
of the same basic elements, namely: atoms)

I-1: states of matter: on the macroscopic scale, matter can be found in three states, namely:
the solid state, the liquid state and the gaseous state (vapor)

I-2 Changes in states of matter: if we change the temperature and pressure, matter changes
state according to the diagram below

Sublimation
Fusion vaporisation
Solid liquid gaz
Solidification condnsation
solid Condensation

I-3 Concepts of atom, molecule, mole and Avogadro’s number

a) The atom from the Greek ‘atomos’ which means indivisible, is at the basis of all matter, it
is the basic element from which all matter was constructed.

It is made up of a nucleus (containing the nucleons) and electrons forming a cloud and
rotating around this nucleus.

b) The molecule: it is an assembly of atoms linked together by chemical bonds.

c) The mole: it is the basic unit of the quantity of matter.

d) Avogadro's number (N= 6.022 1023 ): it is the number of atoms (molecules) contained in a
given mole of matter.

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 I-4 Atomic mass unit, atomic and molecular molar mass, molar volume
-
- a) Atomic mass unit (amu): this is the unit of mass adapted to atomic
dimensions,
- 1 amu = mass of an atom of the carbon isotope 126C divided by 12
-
- 1 amu = m ( 12 = 1/N = 1.66 1027 Kg.
6C/12)

-
- b) Atomic molar mass: it is the mass in grams of one mole of atoms
- example: 2713Al ( M= 27 grams)
- c) Molecular molar mass: it is the mass in grams of a mole of molecules
- example: Al2O3 (M = 102 grams)
- d) Molar volume (Vm): under normal conditions of temperature and pressure
- (T= 273 K and P= 1 atm) , one mole of any gas occupies a volume of 22.4
liters.
-
- I-5 Weight law: Conservation of mass (Lavoisier), chemical reaction
- During a chemical reaction, mass is conserved (nothing is lost, nothing is
created, everything is transformed)
-
- I-6 Qualitative aspect of the material:
- Pure bodies, homogeneous and heterogeneous mixtures
-
- a) Pure bodies: these are bodies made up of the same types of molecules, we
distinguish: simple pure bodies (H2, O3, Hg(mercury))
and compound pure bodies (HCl, Fe2O3 , C6H12O6)
-
- When we mix pure substances, we obtain either homogeneous mixtures
(water + alcohol) or heterogeneous mixtures (oil+water)

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Solutions: these are homogeneous mixtures consisting of a solvent and a solute
(e.g. an aqueous solution of NaCl), the solvent is water and the solute is salt.
-
- A solution is called aqueous when the solvent is water,
-
- Dilution consists of increasing the ratio: solvent/solute
-
- Saturation consists of increasing the ratio: solute / solvent up to the solubility limit
(e.g. beyond 350 g of salt /liter of water, salt is deposited)

I-7 - Quantitative aspect of matter:

a) Molar concentration or Molarity = number of moles of solute / liter of solution

b) Molality: number of moles of solute / Kg of solvent.
c) Weight or mass fraction = mass of a Body/mass of the mixture.
d) Title = mass of solute / volume of solution
e) Mole fraction = number of moles of a specie/total number of moles of the mixture.
f) Normal concentration or Normality: it is the number of gram equivalents of
solute / liter of solution (e.g. a 1M solution of HCl is 1 N whereas a 1M solution of
H 2SO4 is 2N).

I-8: Volumic mass and density

- Volumic mass: (ρ=m/v = mass of a body/volume of the same body).

- Density = it is the ratio between the density of a Body / density of a comparison Body,
d=ρ/ρ0 ,

For gases the body of comparison is air,

For liquids and solids, the Body of comparison is water.

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I-9 the international system of units (I.S.)

The international system of units composed of 7 base units was adopted in 1960,
it is the most used system in the world.

The table below summarizes these different units:

Quantity Symbol of the I.S unit Symbol of the unit

quantity
length L meter m
Mass M Kilogram kg
Time T second s
Electrical intensity I ampere A
temperature θ Kelvin K
Quantity of matter N mole mol
Light intensity J Candela Cd

All other units derive from these 7 basic units;

example F(N)=ma = Kg.m/s2 = N(Newton), E(J)= mv2 = kg m2/s2

Multiples and sub-multiples:

We use multiples to measure large quantities:

Ex: Kilo (K) = 103 , Mega (M) = 106 , Giga (G) = 109, Tera (T) = 1012

We use sub multiples to measure small quantities

Ex: deci (d)= 10-1, milli(m)=10-3, micro (μ) = 10-6, nano (n) = 10-9, pico (p) = 10-12

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I-10: The main constituents of the atom:

I-10-1: discovery of the atomic nucleus: the Rutherford experiment (1911)

By bombarding a very thin gold foil (thickness 0.6 μm) with alpha particles from a radioactive

source, Rutherford made the following observations:

- 99.9% of alpha particles pass through the gold foil without deviation

- 0.1% of alpha particles are deflected.

- 1/20000 are very strongly deviated and some even go back.

Interpretation:

The atomic radius is very large compared to the radius of the nucleus, rA/rn = 104, the atom

is therefore essentially a vacuum, this explains why almost all of the alpha particles pass

through the gold foil.

Some alpha particles are deflected, this is explained by the positive charge carried by

the nucleus since alpha particles are positively charged.

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I-10-2: the fundamental particles

a) The electron: its discovery was made in two stages by two scientists:

J.J.Thomson (1897): Measurement of the ratio: charge /mass of the electron

(e/m= 1.759 1011 C/kg) thanks to the cathode ray tube experiment (deflection of an

electron beam by an electromagnetic field)

b) R.Millikan (1911): measurement of the elementary charge using the oil drop experiment

which consists of spraying oil and measuring the speed of the droplets.

Millikan experiment

Millikan found that the charges of oil drops are all multiples of an elementary charge

(e=1.60217 10-19 C)

From the above, we deduce the following fundamental values for the electron:

the mass: m=9.1094 10-31 Kg, the electric charge q = -e=- 1.602 10-19 C

Nucleons: these are the particles found in the nucleus, there are 2 of them: protons and

neutrons.

a) The proton: its discovery is due to Sir E. Rutherford (1919) who, by bombarding nitrogen

with alpha particles, noticed the emission of positively charged particles which he named
4 14 16 O 1
proton. 2He + 7N 8 + 1H

The characteristics of the proton are: mass: m=1.672622 10-27 Kg = 1.00727 amu

Charge q=+e = 1.602 10-19 C

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 The neutron: its discovery is due to James Chadwick in 1932, and this with the help of a
nuclear reaction:
4 9 12 C 1
2He + 4Be 6 + 0n

The uncharged nature of this particle has led to its name being given to it as a neutron. The

characteristics of the neutron are: mass= 1.674927 10-27 kg, Charge q=0

I-11 Atomic number (Z) and mass number (A)

A
We represent any atom by ZX

X= element symbol

Z= atomic number = number of protons present in the nucleus of the element

A= mass number= number of nucleons = number of protons + number of neutrons

An atom characterized by Z and A is also called a nuclide.

Example of nuclides: 14 16 3 107 Ag

7N , 8O , 1H , 47

There are approximately 331 natural nuclides, 284 are stable, 47 are radioactive.

Composition of a nuclide: it is the number of electrons and nucleons making up this nuclide.

Example : 235
92U : e=92 , p=92 , n=A-Z = 143

in the A 0 e
ZX notation , we design an electron by -1

a proton by 1 H
1

a neutron by 1
0n

I-12: isotopes:

They are nuclides of the same element, they have the same atomic number but a different
mass number, so they are different in the number of neutrons they contain.

Example: 12 , 136C , 146C ,

6C

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The mass of atoms and therefore nuclei is very small, so it is preferable to use a

unit adapted to this scale: the atomic mass unit (uma) abbreviated (u).

definition: the atomic mass unit is defined as:

the mass of an atom of 12 12 = 1.660538 10-27 Kg.

6C/12 , 1 u = m( 6C)/12

* the relative atomic mass:

When an element has several isotopes, its atomic mass is equal to the average of the masses
of these different isotopes: we talk about relative atomic mass, it is given by the formula:
𝑚ixi
M= ∑𝑛1 with mi= atomic mass of isotope I, xi = relative abundance of isotope i in %
100

Application example:

Natural chlorine is made up of 2 isotopes: 3517Cl (m1= 34.96 u, x1=75.4% )

And 37
17Cl (m2= 36.96 u, x2 =24.6%)

Its relative atomic mass is therefore m (Cl) = (m1 x1+m2 x2)/100 = 35.45 u.

Molar mass (grams) = atomic mass in amu x N

Molar mass in grams = atomic mass in amu x Avogadro’s number (N)

* separation of isotopes:

The most used technique for the separation of isotopes is mass spectrometry, the
different isotopes are accelerated using a magnetic field, the trajectory of each isotope is
linked to its mass, we obtain a graph in which the x axis represents the relative
abundances and the y-axis the mass of each isotope. (see figure below).

example of mass spectrogram.

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I-12 the atomic nucleus

The nuclei of all atoms are made up of two types of particles: protons and neutrons also
called nucleons.

The net charge of the nucleus is positive (+Ze), the nucleons are held
together by short-range nuclear forces called the binding energy of the nucleus.

I-12-1: mass defect (loss of mass)

During the formation of a nucleus from these nucleons we see that the mass decreases, this
difference between the mass of the nucleus and the mass of the nucleons is called a defect
or loss of mass.

This lost mass is in fact converted into cohesion energy of the nucleus, it can be calculated
using the Einstein relation ΔE=ΔmC2.

Example: calculate the mass loss resulting from the formation of a carbon 12
6C nucleus?

6 p + 6 n = 126C , The mass loss is Δm = final mass – initial mass

Δm= m( 12
6C) – 6(mp+mn) = 12 -6(1.00727+1.00866) = -0.09558 u

Binding energy: as seen previously, binding energy is calculated by Einstein's relation, it is by

definition the energy to be supplied to a nucleus to separate its nucleons.

for 12 C ΔE= ΔmC2 = 1.428 10-11 J.

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At the atomic scale we prefer to use a more suitable unit of energy:

the electron Volt (eV) which is defined as the energy of an electron accelerated by a
potential difference of 1 volt. E=qV = 1.602 10-19 joules = 1 eV.

We also define the multiple unit which is the Megaelectron-Volt (MeV) with
1 MeV= 1.6 10-13 J.

In the previous example we can deduce the binding energy of 12

6C which is 89.25 MeV.

• The energy equivalent of ama.

ΔE=ΔmC2 = 1.66 10-27 x (2.997 108)2/1.602 10-13 = 931.5 MeV.

Hence Δm(u) =931.5 MeV/C2 and consequently ΔE(MeV) = Δm(u)x931.5

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I-12-2: Stability of the nuclei:

The stability of nuclei is directly linked to the ΔE/A ratio (binding energy per nucleon).

The larger this ratio, the more stable the core.

The Aston curve ΔE/A =f(A) shows maximum stability around the iron core.

For light nuclei the stability decreases they tend to merge 0 to form heavier nuclei and
therefore more stable.

The same goes for heavy nuclei which tend to decay either by fission or by radioactive decay.

aston curve ( ΔE/A = f(A))

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