26/07/2018

What is an atom?

Chemistry

See Chapter 1
Subatomic
Particles

Ref: http://www.universetoday.com/56469/atom-diagram/

How do electrons exist? Different types of atoms?

• Protons (+ electrons) - Element

• Neutrons – Isotope

Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atom#/media/File:S-p-Orbitals.svg

How do you read it?

(no. of protons)
(mass of protons+neutrons+electrons)
Electrons<<< neutrons/protons

Notation – each element is abbreviated with one or two letters. The first letter is a
capital! (CaCO3)

Ref: http://www.periodni.com/download/periodic_table.png

1
 26/07/2018

How are the arranged?

Group
Types of elements?
• Metals – solid, shiny, ductile, malleable, loose
electrons. Typically solid at room temp.

• Nonmetals– brittle, non-conductors (heat or

electricity), gain electrons. Typically gaseous
or liquid at room temp.
Period
• Metalloids – properties of both

What is the mass of an atom? Questions

• Defined in terms of moles
1 mole = 6.023 × 1023 atoms (Avogadros Number)
• Find Carbon on the periodic table. List its
atomic mass, number of neutrons, protons
and electrons.
• What element has a molar mass of around
63.55 g/mol?
• What element has 47 electrons?

Orbitals and Shells

• Electrons exist in certain areas of an atom
• They exist in layers (like an onion) – each layer is
called a shell (see groups on the PT)
• Each shell is broken up into subshells (s,p,d,f)
• The outer layer is the valence shell – most
important. It defines how is reacts with others.
• Elements with the same number of electrons in
the outershell react in similar ways

• The outer shell requires the electron to have

more energy
Ref: http://www.chem4kids.com/files/elements/art/026_orbital.gif

2
 26/07/2018

Recap
• Elements are the primary substances of matter.
Chemical symbols are one or two letter
abbreviations of the names of the elements.
• The periodic table is an arrangement of the
elements by increasing atomic number. A vertical
column on the periodic table containing elements
with similar properties is called a group. They can
be classified as metals, nonmetals and metalloids
Recap
• An atom is the fundamental building block for
all matter. They are made of subatomic
particles – protons (+ve), Neutrons (N/A) and
electrons (-ve).
• Isotopes have the same number of protons as
the ‘normal’ element, but have a different
number of neutrons.

Recap
• Atomic Number – Number of protons
• Atomic Mass – Mass of the atoms (1 mole),
incl. neutrons, protons and electrons

• Electrons exist in shells – the outer shell is the

Valence Shell
• The outer shell is the important one – they do
the reactions