KARIM PUNJWANI

O & A LEVEL CHEMISTRY

Atomic Structure
Matter ⟶ Occupies Space & Has Mass

Particles in an Atom
All matter is made of atoms, atoms are so tiny they need to be magnified, however
there are even more smaller particles contained inside atoms.

Subatomic Particle’s Relative Relative Position

Particle Symbol Charge Mass
Proton p +1 1 unit Inside
Nucleus
1
Electron e -1 unit Outside
1840
Nucleus
Neutron n 0 1 unit Inside
Nucleus

Protons and Neutrons are contained in the nucleus and electrons are orbiting
around the nucleus

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O & A LEVEL CHEMISTRY

An Element’s Identity
Proton Number

The proton number of an element is the number of protons in its atom that is
equal to the number of electrons.

Mass Number

The number of protons and neutrons combined is called Mass Number.

Nucleon Number

The total number of protons and neutrons in an atom of an element. This name is
used as protons and neutrons are contained in the nucleus.

𝐀
𝐙 𝐗
X ⟶ Chemical symbol of the element

A ⟶ Mass Number/Nucleon Number/Atomic Mass

(In superscript, left side of symbol)

Z ⟶ Atomic Number/Proton Number

(In subscript, left side of the symbol)

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O & A LEVEL CHEMISTRY

The number of protons in an atom is always same as the number of electrons.

 The negative charges cancel out the positive charges.

 An atom is electrically neutral.

Number of protons is always the Identity of an atom.

Therefore, atoms of different elements have different number of protons.

In order to deduce number of neutrons of an element, subtract the

atomic/proton number from the mass number.

Examples

𝟏𝟐
𝟔𝐂
Carbon contains

6 protons

6 electrons

6 neutrons

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O & A LEVEL CHEMISTRY

Isotopes
Isotopes are atoms of the same element with same number of protons and electrons
but with different number of neutrons.

Isotopes are Atoms of the

Same Element

With Same number With Different

Causing a change
of protons & number of
in mass number.
electrons. neutrons.

Hydrogen - 1 Hydrogen - 2 Hydrogen - 3

Contains Contains
Contains
 1 proton  1 proton
 1 proton
 1 electron  1 electron
 1 electron
 1 neutron  2 neutrons
 0 neutron

Key: ⨀ electrons, ⨀ protons, ⨀ neutrons

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O & A LEVEL CHEMISTRY

According to their Isotopic Abundance the relative atomic mass (Ar) of hydrogen is
1.008, which is very close to 1.

The relative atomic mass (Ar) of an element is defined as the ratio of the ‘average
1
mass of an atom’ to 12 th the mass of a 126C atom.

Carbon – 12 is chosen as the standard atom because its mass of 12 units has been
determined very accurately using modern instruments such as the mass
spectrometer.

𝟑𝟓
𝟏𝟕𝐂𝐥 (17 protons, 17 electrons, 18 neutrons) 75%
𝟑𝟕
𝟏𝟕𝐂𝐥 (17 protons, 17 electrons, 20 neutrons) 25%
Isotopic Abundance → It is used to calculate the average mass of an element
𝟕𝟓 𝟐𝟓 𝟏𝟎𝟓 𝟑𝟕 𝟏𝟒𝟐 𝟕𝟏
35 × + 37 × = + = = = 35.5 (Average mass of chlorine)
𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝟒 𝟒 𝟒 𝟐

𝟑𝟓.𝟓
𝟏𝟕𝐂𝐥
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O & A LEVEL CHEMISTRY

Isotopes Have
SAME DIFFERENT
1. Number of Protons & 1. Number of neutrons
Electrons
2. Chemical Properties, as 2. Physical Properties, as
only electrons are involved physical properties are
in Chemical Reactions. affected by mass and that
is different due to change
in neutrons.

Example Example

Both Chlorine - 35 and Hydrogen - 2 has a slightly

Chlorine - 37 react with higher boiling point and
sodium to produce Sodium density than Hydrogen - 1
Chloride

Isotopes that emit high energy radiation are called radioisotopes.

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Arrangement of Electrons in an Atom

The formula 2n2 is used to deduce the maximum capacity of electrons in that
particular shell.

Where, n is the number of shells.

First Shell

2 (1)2 = 2 (Duplet)

The first shell can hold upto two electrons and is always filled first. It is closest to the
nucleus and has the lowest energy.

Second & Third Shell

2 (2)2 = 8 (Octet)

The second shell can hold upto 8 electrons.

2 (3)2 = 18

The third shell can hold upto 18 electrons.

They have increasing energy levels that is third shell has more energy than second
shell. They usually hold upto 8 electrons each and are filled in order, the second
shell is fully filled before the third shell.

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Electronic Configuration
It tells us how many electrons are available in each shell.

First Shell
1 4
1H 1 electron 2He 2 electrons

Second Shell
7 9 11 12 14
3Li 2, 1 4Be 2, 2 5B 2, 3 6C 2, 4 7N 2, 5
16 19 20
8O 2, 6 9F 2, 7 10Ne 2, 8

Third Shell
23 28 35.5 40
11Na 2, 8, 1 14Si 2, 8, 4 17Cl 2, 8, 7 18Ar 2, 8, 8

Fourth Shell
39 40
19K 2, 8, 8,1 20Ca 2, 8, 8, 2

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O & A LEVEL CHEMISTRY

Shell Formation
Some Examples

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