PRAYER

Dear Lord and Father of all, Thank you

for today. Thank you for ways in which
you provide for us all. For Your
protection and love we thank you. Help
us to focus our hearts and minds now
on what we are about to learn. Inspire
us by Your Holy Spirit as we listen and
write. Guide us by your eternal light as
we discover more about the world
around us. We ask all this in the name
of Jesus. Amen.
Attendance
The Atomic Number
and the Synthesis of
New Elements
OBJECTIVES:
1. Explain how the concept of atomic number led to the
synthesis of new elements in the laboratory .
2. Identify the different elements formed after the process of
synthesis; and
3. Realize the importance of the atomic number in identifying
the new elements identity in the periodic table
REVIEW
Dmitri Mendeleev created a classification of elements based on
their atomic weight.
 Moseley’s X –
RAY
SPECTROSCOP
 • English physicist
• In 1913, Henry Moseley arranged the
elements in the periodic table based on their
increasing atomic number.
• His work is very significant because the
elements are still arranged in terms of atomic
number.
• number of an element helps the scientists to
synthesize new elements in the laboratories.

Henry Moseley
• The atomic number refers to the number of protons
in the atom’s nucleus. It is also the basis of
element’s identity.
• More so, the number of protons in an element
determines the electrons that surround the nucleus.
The atomic number of an element helps the
scientists to synthesize new elements in the
laboratories.
What is the essential role of atomic number in creating new elements?
The X-ray spectroscopy played a
significant development in
determining the atomic number of
the elements.
In his experiment, the different
beam of electrons bombarded with
other elements produced varying
frequencies of x-ray spectral lines.
He measured and concluded that
these frequencies revealed by the
elements in his worked were similar
location in the periodic table of
elements. 
Therefore, he assigned these frequencies as the
atomic number of each element. The atomic number
indicates the number of protons found in the nucleus
of each element.

It also serves as the identity of an atom.

In a neutral atom, the number of protons is equal to
the number of electrons. Thus, atomic number is equal
to the number of electrons in a neutral atom. 
Example:
Where:
X is element symbol A is the mass

number Z is the atomic number 

Mass number (A) = number of protons

(p+) + number of neutrons (n)

= Atomic number (Z) +
number of neutrons (n0)

-Atomic number (Z) = number of protons (p+) =

number of electrons (e) 

Number of neutrons (n) = Mass number (A) -

number of protons (p+)

Fill in what is missing in the ZApen table
The Synthesis of New Elements
The scientists used particle
accelerator to synthesize new
synthetic elements.
The particle accelerator is a device
used to speed up the electrically
charged atomic particles or
subatomic particles by using
magnetic and electrical fields.
In 1930, the element 92,
Uranium was the heaviest
element discovered at that
time. The eagerness of
scientists to study and
discover the behavior and
characteristics of the elements
challenged them to create new
elements..
• In 1937, American physicist Ernest
Lawrence synthesized element with
atomic number 43 using a linear
particle accelerator.
• He bombarded molybdenum (Z=42)
with fast-moving neutrons. The newly
synthesized element was named
Technetium (Tc) after the Greek word
"technêtos" meaning “artificial.”
• Tc was the first man-made element.
In 1940, The three scientist discovered element with atomic number
85.
• They bombarded atoms of bismuth (Z=83) with fast-
moving alpha particles in a cyclotron.
• A cyclotron is a particle accelerator that uses
alternating electric field to accelerate particles that
move in a spiral path in the presence of a magnetic
field.
• Element-85 was named astatine from the Greek word
“astatos” meaning unstable.
The two other elements with atomic numbers 61 and 87 were
discovered through studies in radioactivity.
In the same year, Edwin
McMillan used particle
accelerator to bombard
uranium with neutrons that
led him to discover the
element with atomic number
93. He called it Neptunium.
In the late 1940, the four scientists namely, Glenn Seaborg, Edwin
McMillan, Joseph Kennedy and Arthur Wahl synthesized element 94 by
bombarding the uranium with deuterons in the cyclotron. The cyclotron is a
particle accelerator used in alternating electric field to accelerate particles
that move in a spiral path in the presence of a magnetic field. The deuterons
are particles made of a proton and a neutron. They named the element 94 to
plutonium.
TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS
• In the periodic table of elements, elements with
atomic number higher than 92 are belong to the
group or family of transuranium elements.
• Examples: Neptunium and Plutonium
• Discovered in the laboratory as artificially
generated synthetic elements
QUIZ
Column A Column B
 Column A Column B
d
e
a
b
c