HIGHER EDUCATION TECHNICAL SCHOOL OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES

SABAC

SEMINAR PAPER
SABAC 2014

STRUCTURE OF ATOMS

PROFESSOR:
STUDENT:

TABLE OF CONTENT:
1. BASICS
1.1 MESURING ATOMS
2. ATOMIC STRUCTURE
2.1 FORCES IN ATOMS

1. BASICS
Atoms are extremely small particles from which everything is made.
They are the smallest units of element that behave the same way the
element does.
The name atom comes from the Greek atomos, which means
uncuttable, or indivisible, something that cannot be divided further.
When they were first studied, scientists werent able to divide atoms,
but today we know they are made up of much smaller particles such as
protons and electrons.
Everything that is liquid, solid, gas, plasma or in any other element
state is made of atoms.
The size of atom is measured in picometers, which represent a unit
trillion time smaller then meter. A cube of sugar contains as many atoms
as there are stars in visible universe. Biggest measured atom is that of
element cesium, which is nine times bigger that the smallest one.

1.1 Measuring atoms

To measure atoms scientist decided to use a different way that
what we use for elements which are regular in size. They invented so
called AMU (Atomic Mass Unit), symbol: u or Da (Dalton).
They equated the AMU to the mass of the most common carbon atom,
which has 6 atoms and 6 proton divided by 12. So AMU is about the
same as one proton, but also as one neutron. The size so electron is
so small that they contribute very little to the mass of the atom.
One AMU is 1.660538921(73) 1027 kg.

2. ATOMIC STRUCTURE
Atom is by itself mostly empty space. It is made of nucleus in its
center, and orbits, in which electrons are moving. The nucleus contains
two particles, proton and neutrons. Protons are positively charged, and
electrons negatively. Neutrons dont have electric charge.

Protons and neutrons are made up of quarks, three to be exact. Proton

of two up and one down, and neutron of two down and one up. Electrons
are kind of leptons.
Those particles are called elementary particles, they are the
smallest particles everything is made of (it is unknown whether they can
be split into smaller ones).
Electrons are moving around the nucleus in orbits or sometimes called
energy levels. Maximum number of them is 8 and they can all contain
maximum fix number of electrons.
When electron moves from one energy level to another it is due to the
loss or gain of energy, those jumps are called quantum jumps and cant
be explained easily.
For example, when electron is hit by foton (particle of light) it
will make jump to a higher energy level. The reason why the same
electron losses its energy and jumps back is unknown to science.
Interactions with electrons in the outer orbits affect an atom's
chemical properties.

2.1 Forces in atoms

Unlike in normal sized world, where gravity is the king of
attraction. In atom rule different forces. Electrons are negatively
charged and dus maintain the stability by attracting the positively
charged protons.
Inside nucleus, strong nuclear force is what keep those particles
together. It attracts protons to protons, neutrons to neutrons and
protons to neutrons. It is extremely powerful but extend over a very
short distance.

There are also electromagnetic forces, which tend to shove the

positively-charged protons (and as a result the entire nucleus)
apart. In contrast to the strong nuclear force, the electric field of
a proton falls off slowly over distance extending way beyond the
nucleus, binding electrons to it.
The delicate balance of forces among nuclear particles keeps the
nucleus stable. Any change in the number, the arrangement, or energy
of the nucleons can upset this balance and cause the nucleus to
become unstable or radioactive. (Disruption of electrons close to the
nucleus can also cause an atom to emit radiation.)

The amount of energy required to break up the nucleus into its

parts is called the binding energy; it is often referred to as
"cosmic glue."

LITERATURE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atom
http://www.chem4kids.com/files/atom_intro.html
http://www.epa.gov/radiation/understand/atom.html