PST04210:PHARMACEUTICAL INORGANIC

CHEMISTRY

Session 2: Description of an Atom

 Learning Tasks

• By the end of this session students are expected to be able to:

• Define an atom
• Describe the Dalton’s atomic theory
• Describe the structure of an atom
Definition of an Atom
• Atom
• Refers to the smallest particle of an element that can take part in a chemical
reaction
• It is a basic unit of matter
Dalton’s Atomic Theory
• Dalton’s Atomic Theory
• All matter is composed of tiny, indivisible particles called atoms
• Atoms cannot be made or destroyed
• All atoms of one element are identical in weight and atoms of
different elements have different weight
• Compounds are formed by joining the atoms of two or more elements
• When forming a compound, the atoms of elements combine in whole-
number ratios, such as 1 to 1, 2 to 1, 3 to 2, and so on
• A chemical reaction is the rearrangement of atoms
Dalton’s Atomic Theory cont…
• Shortcomings of the Dalton’s Atomic Theory
• Matter is composed of atoms which are divisible
• All atoms of one element may not be identical in weight
• Amendments of the Dalton’s Atomic Theory Basing on the Modern
Concepts
• Atoms are composed of smaller subatomic particles (protons, neutrons
and electrons) thus it can be broken down
• Elements have Isotopes (atoms with the same number of protons but
with different number of neutrons) which means that atoms of an
element have different mass
Structure of an Atom
• Composition of an Atom
• Atoms is composed of three subatomic particles:
• Protons
• Heavier, larger than electrons and are positively charged
• Electrons
• Smallest, lightest and negatively charged
• Neutrons
• Large and massive as protons, but neutral
 Structure of an Atom cont…
Charge
Particle Mass (g)
Coulomb Charge Unit

Electron 9.10938 x 10-28 -1.6022 x 10-19 -1

Proton 1.67262 x 10-24 +1.6022 x 10-19 +1

Neutron 1.67262 x 10-24 0 0

Structure of an Atom cont…
• All atoms can be identified by the number of
protons and neutrons they contain
• In a neutral atom the number of protons is equal to
the number of electrons, so the atomic number
also indicates the number of electrons present in
the atom
Location of Subatomic Particles According to Different Models

• The plum pudding model of the atom (Joseph John (J.J.) Thomson)
• Electrons and protons are uniformly mixed throughout the atom
• Atom consist of electrons scattered in a sphere of positive
charge (protons)
• According to Thomson atoms are composed of electrons
distributed in a cloud of positively charged material (protons)
• The electrons are free to rotate in orbits in the cloud, and their
negative charges exactly offset the positively charged cloud
Location of Subatomic Particles According
to Different Models cont…
Location of Subatomic Particles According to Different Models
cont…

• Planetary model of the atom (Rutherford)

• The atom are composed of a tiny positively charged
nucleus with even tinier negatively charged electrons
circling it
• The protons are located in the nucleus and the electrons orbit
around the nucleus like planets around the sun
• Electrons orbit the positively charged nucleus, much as
the planets orbit the sun
Location of Subatomic Particles According to Different Models cont…
Location of Subatomic Particles According to Different Models cont…

• Bohr's solar system model of the atom (Niels Bohr)

• Electrons assume only certain orbits around the nucleus and orbits
are stable
• Each orbit has an energy associated with it
• If the orbit closest to the nucleus has an energy E1, the next
closest E2 and so on
• Light is emitted when an electron jumps from a higher orbit to a
lower orbit and absorbed when it jumps from a lower to higher
orbit
Location of Subatomic Particles According to Different Models
cont…
Location of Subatomic Particles According to Different Models
cont…

• The energy and frequency of light emitted or

absorbed is given by the difference between the
two orbit
• The energy of light is proportional to its frequency
and inversely proportional to its wavelength and
the proportionality constant is known as Planck's
constant “h”
Location of Subatomic Particles According to Different Models cont…
Location of Subatomic Particles According to Different Models cont…

• Quantum mechanical description of an atom

• Electrons in a certain orbital and not orbit
• An atomic orbital has a characteristic energy, as well as a
characteristic distribution of electron density
• Electron density gives the probability that an electron will be
found in a particular region of an atom
Location of Subatomic Particles According to Different Models cont…

• Quantum mechanical description of an atom

• The wave-particle nature of matter (De Broglie’s)
• An electron in an atom could be anywhere, although some
locations are more likely than others
• Electrons are both wave and particle
• Uncertainty principle (Werner Heisenberg)
• It is impossible to measure precisely both the position and the
momentum of a particle
Proposed Structure of an Atom Basing on Newer (Quantum
Model) Where the Electrons are in a Cloud, no Specific
Location
Identification of Atom

• Atomic Number (Z)

• The number of protons in the nucleus of each atom of an element
• The chemical identity of an atom can be determined by its atomic
number
• For example, the atomic number of nitrogen is 7 thus neutral
nitrogen atom has 7 protons and 7 electrons
 The mass number (A)

• The total number of neutrons and protons present in the nucleus of

an atom of an element
• Except for the most common form of hydrogen, which has one proton and no
neutrons, all atomic nuclei contain both protons and neutrons
• The mass number = number of protons + number of neutrons
• = atomic number + number of neutrons
• The number of neutrons in an atom is equal to the difference
between the mass number and the atomic number, or (A - Z)
The mass number (A), Atomic number and
number of neutrons
• For example, if the mass number of a particular boron atom is
12 and the atomic number is 5 (indicating 5 protons in the
nucleus)
• The number of neutrons is 12 - 5 = 7
• In most cases atoms of a given element do not all
have the same mass.
• Atoms that have the same atomic number but
different mass numbers are called isotopes
Isotopes
• Hydrogen has three isotopes; hydrogen/protium
(having one proton and no neutrons), Deuterium
(having one proton and one neutron) and Tritium
(having one proton and two neutrons)
Isotopes cont...
 Isotopes cont...

Z
x
 Example, the isotopes of uranium

235 238
92
U U
92
Isotopes cont...
• With the exception of hydrogen, isotopes of elements are
identified by their mass numbers
• The two isotopes of uranium are called uranium-235 (pronounced
“uranium two thirty-five”) and uranium-238 (pronounced “uranium two
thirty-eight”)
• The chemical properties of an element are determined primarily
by the protons and electrons in its atoms;
• Neutrons do not take part in chemical changes under normal conditions
• Isotopes of the same element have similar chemistry, forming the same
types of compounds and displaying similar reactivity
Key Points
• Atom
• Refers to the smallest particle of an element that can take part in a chemical
reaction
• According to Dalton’s Atomic theory
• All matter is composed of tiny, indivisible particles called atoms
• Atoms cannot be made or destroyed
• All atoms of one element are identical in weight and atoms of different
elements have different weight
• Compounds are formed by joining the atoms of two or more elements
• When forming a compound, the atoms of elements combine in whole-number ratios,
such as 1 to 1, 2 to 1, 3 to 2, and so on
• A chemical reaction is the rearrangement of atoms
Key Points cont…
• According to Dalton’s Atomic theory
• Atoms cannot be made or destroyed
• All atoms of one element are identical in weight and
atoms of different elements have different weight
• Compounds are formed by joining the atoms of two or
more elements
• When forming a compound, the atoms of elements combine in
whole-number ratios, such as 1 to 1, 2 to 1, 3 to 2, and so on
• A chemical reaction is the rearrangement of atoms
Key Points cont…
• According to modern concepts
• Matter is composed of atoms which are divisible
• All atoms of one element may not be identical in weight
• An atom is composed of three elementary particles: proton, electron,
and neutron.
• The proton has a positive charge, the electron has a negative charge,
and the neutron has no charge
Key Points
• Electrons are smallest and lightest
• Protons are heavier and larger than electrons
• Neutrons are as large and massive as protons
• Protons and neutrons are located in a small region at
the center of the atom, called the nucleus
• Atomic Number (Z) is the number of protons in the nucleus of each
atom of an element
• The mass number (A) is the total number of neutrons and protons
present in the nucleus of an atom of an element
 Evaluation
• What is an Atom?
• What is the Dalton’s Atomic Theory?
• What is the Composition of an Atom?
• Where do the Protons, Neutrons and Electrons found in an Atom?
• What is the Difference between Atomic Number and Mass Number?
• What is an isotopes?
References
• Chang, R., & Overby, J. (2011). General chemistry: The Essential
Concepts (6th ed.). New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
• Donald, C. (2008). Essentials of Pharmaceutical Chemistry (3rd Ed).
London: Pharmaceutical press.
• Satyajit, D. S., & Lutfun, N. (2007). Chemistry for pharmacy students:
General, Organic and Natural Product Chemistry. England: John Wiley
& Sons Ltd.
• Troy D. B. (Ed.). (2005). Remington: The science and practice of
pharmacy. (21st ed.). Baltimore, MA. A Wolters Kluwer Company.