ATOMIC STRUCTURE

• An atom is the smallest particle of an element that takes part in a chemical reaction
• An atom consists of a nucleus and a cloud of electrons that move around the nucleus in levels of
energy called electron shells. The nucleus is itself a cluster of two kinds of particles, the protons
and neutrons. The protons, neutrons and neutrons are even smaller than the atom itself, we call them
sub-atomic particle
• The proton is positively charged (+1) while the electron is negatively charged (-1). The neutrons are
neutral and carry no charge. The electrons are held within the atom by an electrostatic force of
attraction between themselves and the positive charge of the protons in the nucleus
• All the particles in an atom are very light. So their mass is measured in atomic mass units (a.m.u)
rather than grams. Protons and neutrons are collectively called nucleons. They are each given a
relative mass of 1 atomic mass unit (1 a.m.u). The relative atomic mass of an electron is 1/1840
a.m.u. This is so much less than that of a proton or a neutron, and can be considered almost
negligible. So the mass of an atom depends mainly on the number of protons and neutrons it has.

Particle Symbol Where found Relative mass Relative

a.m.u charge
Proton p nucleus 1 +1
Neutron n nucleus 1 0
Electron e shells 1/1840 -1

• Although atoms contain electrically charged particles, the atoms themselves are electrically neutral.
This is because atoms contain equal numbers of electrons and protons so the positive charges and
the negative charges cancel out.
THE PROTON NUMBER AND THE NUCLEON NUMBER

PROTON NUMBER (ATOMIC NUMBER)

The proton number or atomic number is the number of Protons in the nucleus of an atom and is given the
symbol z. Atoms of different elements differ from one another because of the different number of protons.
Each element has its own proton number. eg. Carbon has a proton number of 6. All atoms with 6 protons
are carbon. Since the number of protons is the same as the number of electrons, it also gives us the number
of electrons in an atom

NUCLEON NUMBER (MASS NUMBER)

The nucleon number or mass number is the total number of protons and neutrons found in the nucleus of an
atom and are given a symbol A.

Nucleon number = number of protons + number of neutrons

Number of neutrons = Nucleon number – proton number

ATOMIC SYMBOL
The structure of an atom can be written as follows:
Nucleon number X symbol of the element
Nucleon number
X symbol of the element
Proton number

The atomic symbol means that an atom of carbon has 6 protons and 6 neutrons. Since the number of
electrons is equal to the number of protons, there are also 6 electrons in carbon.
For convenience, the element is sometimes represented by using only the nucleon number. E.g carbon -12 or
12
Cl

Exercise.
Complete the table below to show the number of protons, neutrons and electrons for some elements

Element Symbol Atomic Mass number Number of Number of Number of

number protons neutrons electrons
Hydrogen
Helium
Carbon
nitrogen
Fluorine
Neon
Magnesium
Sulphur
Potassium
Calcium
Iron
Zinc
ISOTOPES

The atoms of an element are not always identical. For example there are three types of hydrogen atoms.
They all contain the same number of protons and electrons but different numbers of neutrons. They are
called isotopes. ISOTOPES are the atoms of the same element with the same number of protons but
different numbers of neutrons. In other words, isotopes have the same proton number but different mass
numbers.
Examples
Hydrogen has three isotopes 1H, 2H and 3H

12
Carbon has 3 isotopes C, 13C, and 14C

35
Chlorine has 2 isotopes Cl and 37Cl

Isotopes have the same but different (a) mass number

(a) Atomic number (b) number of neutrons
(b) Number of protons (c) physical properties
(c) Number of electrons
(d) Chemical properties

Exercise
Complete the tables below using the information above

Element isotopes protons electronns Neutrons Proton Mass

number number
Hydrogen 1 1 0 1 1
1 1 2 1 2
1 1 3 1 3

Chlorine

12
Carbon C
13
C
14
C

Calculating Relative Atomic Mass

Relative Atomic Mass is an average of the masses of the isotopes of the element
Example:
In a sample of chlorine gas 25% of the atoms have a mass of 37 and 75% of the atoms have a mass of 35

Therefore, Relative Atomic Mass of chlorine is

25∗37 75∗35
Relative atomic mass = + = 35.5
100 100

3. Give the names of the three isotopes of hydrogen

…………………………….. ……………………………… ………………………….

4. H2O is the formula of water formed from the main isotope of hydrogen. The other isotopes are given the
symbols D and T
Write formulae for water formed from the other two isotopes ………… and ……………

Why would this water be called “Heavy water”? ……………………………………………….

5. Explain why isotopes of an element have similar chemical properties but different physical properties

Electron arrangement in Atoms

How are the atoms arranged in the atom?
• Electrons move around the nucleus fixed regions called energy levels/ shells/ orbitals.
• The electrons in each shell have different energy levels.
• The shells closer to the nucleus have lower energy levels than those farther away. They are
numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on, going outwards from the nucleus.
• Each of the electron energy level (shells) can only hold a certain maximum number of electrons.
• The first shell can hold a maximum of 2 electrons.
• The second shell can hold up to 8 electrons.
• The Third shell can hold up to 18 electrons; however for the first twenty elements in the periodic
table (1 to 20), the maximum number of electrons in the shells is 8.
• The electrons fill the energy levels starting from the energy level nearest to the nucleus, which
has lowest energy. When this is full (with 2 electrons) the next electron goes into the second energy
level. When this energy level is full with eight electrons, then the electrons begin to fill the third and
the fourth energy levels.

The way electrons are arranged is called the electron structure or electron configuration.

A 12 C atom has an atomic number of 6 and therefore 2 electrons enter the first shell, leaving 4 to occupy
the second shell. The electron configuration for carbon can be written in a shorthand way as 2,4.

ASSIGNMENT
You are required to draw the electron arrangement for the first 20 elements, showing the number of
protons and neutrons inside the nucleus.

Valence electrons
Valence electrons are the electrons found in the outermost shell. They are the most important electrons
because they take part in chemical reactions, this happens either by gaining or losing electrons to form ions
or by sharing of electrons to form molecules.
Atomic structure and the periodic Table
The periodic table is an arrangement of elements. The elements are arranged in order of increasing proton
number. The periodic table consists of seven horizontal rows of elements called periods and eight vertical
columns called groups.
The electronic configuration of the first 20 elements in the periodic table shows how these atoms differ in
terms of
i) The number of shell
ii) The number of valence electrons in the outermost shells.

The group number is the same as the number of valence electrons in an atom. E.g all elements
containing 2 valence electrons are found in group II

The period number is the same as the number of electron shells occupied by an atom. For example, all
elements with three shells of electrons are placed in period 3 (from sodium to argon)

The noble Gas Configuration

The noble gases are elements found in group 0 of the periodic table. The noble gases are helium, neon and
argon. They are also called inert gases because they are unreactive or stable and do not form compounds.
Noble gases are very stable elements because their atoms have full outer shell of electrons (2 for helium and
8 for neon and argon). A shell with 8 electrons is called an octet structure and is very stable. Other elements
do not have an octet structure so they tend to take part in chemical reactions and combine in ways to attain 8
electrons in the outer most shell, similar to the electronic configuration of the noble gases.

Exercise
Copy and complete the table below to show how atoms in different groups attain the electron configuration
similar to noble gases

Group number Number of valence electron How it attains the noble gas configuration
I 1 It loses 1 valence electron
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII