Atom Notes

Protons, neutrons and

electrons

Protons, Neutrons,
Electrons
Protons-positive

charge and weigh same

as neutron
Neutrons-neutral charge and weigh
same as proton
Electron-negative charge, almost no
mass

Atomic Number and Mass

Atomic

numbernumber of protons
in an atom
Atomic massnumber of protons
and neutrons in an
atom

How many electrons does an

atom need to have to be happy?
2

in the first shell, 8 in each shell after

Atoms are too small to be seen so

how do we know about them?
Observations

are made during experiments

and then we infer things about atoms based
on our observations.

Thomsons Experiment
Observations

Negative particles
moved to positive end
of tube
Positive particles
moved to negative
end of tube
Positive particles
were way more
massive

Inference

about atom

Its a positive glob

with little negative
things stuck in it.

Rutherfords Experiment
Observations

Most of the particles

went through the
gold foil but some of
them bounced back.

Inference about
atom
There

was a hard,
dense, positive
nucleus. Most of
the atom is empty
space.

Atoms combine to make molecules

Molecules

atoms.

are made up of two or more

How and why has our model

changed?
How?

It has changed from being the same throughout

to being made of smaller charged particles to
having a nucleus.

Why?

Weve done more experiments with better

technology and learned new things.

Current model of the atom

Neutrons
(neutral)

Protons
(+)

Electrons (-)

What are the limitations of our

model of the atom?
The

electrons are really far away from the

nucleus. If the nucleus were the size of an
orange, the electrons would be as far away as
the size of the school.
The movement of the electrons is not in
specific paths.