Atomic Structure

The word atom comes from atomos, an ancient Greek word meaning indivisible. The Greek philosopher Demokritos (460-370 BCE) maintained that all matter could be divided and subdivided into smaller and smaller units, and eventually there would be a tiny particle that could not be divided any further - an atom. This was remarkable because there was no way ancient Greeks could support this theory by observation or experiment. Watch Video on the early ideas of the atom.

An atom is defined as the smallest particle that maintains the characteristics of the element. An atom cant be broken down into anything smaller via chemical processes.

An element is made up of just one type of atom. Although the word 'atom' comes from the Greek for indivisible, we now know that atoms are not the smallest particles of matter. Here the copper pot comprises of just copper atoms and the lump of carbon of just carbon atoms.

Instead, they have a small central nucleus surrounded by even smaller particles called electrons. Atoms are built up from three subatomic particles: The charge and size of these are shown in the below table.

Particle Proton Neutron Electron

Relative Mass Relative charge 1 1 1/1836* +1 0 1

* i.e. very small, but not zero

Each atom consists of a very small, very dense nucleus, which contains all the heavy particles (the protons and neutrons), surrounded by orbiting electrons (which take up most of the volume).

The number of protons determines which element the atom belongs to (e.g. all atoms with 11 protons are sodium atoms).

Click here to see atomic structure of magesium. All atoms of a particular element have the same number of protons. Atoms of different elements have different numbers of protons. The number of protons in an atom is called its atomic number (proton number) This number is always fixed for the same element. Atoms are arranged in the modern periodic table in order of increasing atomic number (proton number). Here the atomic number is written above the element symbol.

If an atom is electrically neutral (i.e. it has no charge), it must have the same number of electrons as protons. You will know an atom is neutral if there is no charge (+ or -) at the top right of the symbol. (i.e. 23Na represents a neutral atom of sodium; 23Na+ is charged All elements are neutral, only ions carry charge and you will see this later). Note - In the GCSE version of the Periodic Table, the atomic number is written in the lower left corner of the box for each element.

The nucleus itself is composed of two particles, neutrons and protons. In nuclei with more than one proton, neutrons are needed to help bind the protons together (otherwise they would repel each other and fly apart). Protons, neutrons and electrons are extremely light so scientists measure their masses in atomic mass units instead of grams. Protons and neutrons have a mass of one unit, but electrons have very little mass. The mass number of an atom is defined as the total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of one particular atom. Note that: Atomic number, Z Mass Number, A So: Number of neutrons, Nn = Np (number of protons) = Np + Nn (Number of neutrons) = A Z i.e. (Mass Number Atomic Number)

e.g. Uranium is element 92. How many neutrons are there in the isotope 238U? Answer: Nn = 238 92 = 146 The mass number is written at the upper left (238) while the atomic number is at the lower left (92) The mass number of a carbon atom is 12, whereas the mass number of a hydrogen atom is 1. This means that one carbon atom is 12 times as heavy as a hydrogen atom.
238 92

A magnesium atom has a mass number of 24, so one magnesium atom is twice as heavy as a carbon atom.

Test yourself on the nuclei of different elements

ISOTOPES
However, the number of neutrons is not always the same in atoms of a given element (REMEMBER the number of protons is always fixed for a given element), this leads to the formation of ISOTOPES

Definition: Isotopes are atoms with the same number of protons (same atomic number) but different numbers of neutrons (different mass number) in the nucleus. For example, natural chlorine (element 17) consists of two types of atom: 35Cl containing 17 protons and 18 neutrons, and 37Cl containing 17 protons and 20 neutrons. The pictures below show you the isotopes of carbon and hydrogen. The sub-atomic particles have been completed for you.

As isotopes have the same number of protons, they have the same number of electrons, and thus the same electron configuration (See below) - They therefore have identical chemical properties. Isotopes can be radioactive and this is exploited in nuclear power and radio dating. Because the electrons have very little mass, the accurate mass of an atom in atomic mass units is quite close to its mass number: e.g. 35Cl will have a relative mass of about 35. In the data sheet chlorine is listed as having an atomic mass of 35.5. This figure is a weighted average: natural chlorine is about 75% 35Cl and 25% 37Cl, so its mass is 0.75 35 + 0.25 37 = 35.5. The element boron comprises of the following isotopes, 80% mass is therefore (0.8x10)+(0.2x11)= 10.8
10

B and 20%

11

B, the average

This weighted average of the naturally occurring isotopes is the number that is included in the periodic table, and it is called the relative atomic mass (represented by the symbol Ar).

The relative atomic mass of an element is defined as The weighted mean of the naturally occurring isotopes relative to 1/12th of the mass of the carbon-12 atom.

NB for individual atoms, or pure isotopes, a mass number can be used. For elements, relative atomic masses are used to take into account the presence of naturally occurring isotopes.

Q. Calculate the relative atomic mass of krypton given the abundance and mass data below.

m/z relative abundance (%)

78 0.3

80 2.3

82 11.6

83 11.5

84 56.9

86 17.4

Answer (78x0.3)+(80x2.3)+(82x11.6)+(83x11.5)+(84x56.9)+(86x17.4) =83.9 100

Self check - Note this is an average value, so the number must fall between the upper and lower limits. In this case it must be between 78 and 86.

ELECTRON CONFIGURATION. The electrons are attracted to the protons in the nucleus, and since they are moving rapidly, they orbit the nucleus, rather like the way in which the Earth and other planets go around the sun, except that the electrons follow a three-dimensional orbit (a sphere) rather than the twodimensional orbits of the planets around the sun. The electrons have fixed orbits which they can follow, called shells, which get progressively further away from the nucleus. The first shell (closest to the nucleus) is completely filled before any electrons can go into the second, then the second is filled before the third, and so on.

If we consider the first twenty elements. The first shell can hold up to two electrons, the second up to eight, and the third up to eight. Thus 3Li (with three electrons) will have two in the first shell, and one left over in the second shell. We write this arrangement as 2.1
9F

(nine electrons) will be 2.7, 12Mg (12 electrons) will be 2.8.2, and 19K will be 2.8.8.1. We can show this in a diagram, for example for aluminium:

The configuration would be 2.8.3 You need to be able to draw the arrangement of electrons (shells) and write the electronic configuration for the first 20 elements (up to calcium). You can attempt a configuration exercise here.

A level idea - In reality the third shell can hold 18 electrons, however the electronic configuration of potassium is 2,8,8,1 and that of calcium is 2,8,8,2. This is because 2 electrons go into the fourth shell before the rest of the third shell fills up. The electronic configuration of scandium is 2,8,9,2 and that of titanium is 2,8,10,2. As you do not need to know the electronic configurations of elements beyond calcium, it can be easier to think that the third shell can hold a maximum of 8 electrons, rather than 18. However you do need to know that the transition elements have similar and special properties because a lower energy level (inner shell) is being filled.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE PERIODIC TABLE

Mendelef first arranged the elements in a table according to their chemical properties and what he knew about their atomic masses. Nowadays, the elements in the Periodic Table are put in order of increasing atomic number (as shown above) and arranged according to electronic structure. This is because, in three places in the table, an element with higher relative atomic mass has to be placed before one with a lower mass. For example, argon (atomic no. 18, relative atomic mass 39.9) comes before potassium (at.no.19, r.a.m. 39.1). The problem arises because argon consists mainly of argon-40, and so has a high average relative atomic mass, while potassium is mainly found as the lighter isotope, potassium-39, and has a lower average. The chemical properties of elements depend on the number of electrons in the outer shell, so we place them in vertical groups which all have the same number of electrons in the outer shell: e.g. Group 1
3Li 11Na 19K

2.1 2.8.1 2.8.8.1

All the group 1 metals finish with 1.

They also all have a valency of 1 and form a +1 ion

After element 20 the electron arrangement becomes more complicated, but it is always true that elements in group I have one electron in their outer shells, so we can say that Rb, Cs and Fr will all have one electron in their outer shells (see Periodic Table). Similarly elements in group III always have three electrons, and elements in group VII have seven electrons in their outer shells. The elements on the right of the table labelled Group 0 have full outer shells, normally with eight electrons in them (Ne is 2.8, Ar is 2.8.8 etc). However, helium (element 2) is also placed here, because it too has a full outer shell.

NOTE Elements in the same group have the same outer electron configuration, and thus have similar chemical properties, you should be aware of the similar reactions of all the group 1 elements.

If element gambinium had the following electron configuration 2.8.18.32.64.4 we are only interested in the final number, and thus it would be in group 4. Hydrogen, element 1, is a unique element, and is only tenuously placed in Group 1 for convenience.

A horizontal row in the table is called a period. Elements across the same period have the same total number of shells.

If the elements are listed in order of atomic number, similar elements appear at regular intervals (although the intervals get longer later in the list). This is a periodic property. When the elements are laid out according to their electronic structures, as described above, we find that there is a regular pattern of properties across one period, and a similar pattern across the next period. The most obvious pattern is the change from reactive metals on the left (Group I), through less reactive elements in the middle, to increasingly reactive non-metals in Group VII followed by the very unreactive gases in Group 0.

Since soluble oxides of metals are alkaline, and soluble oxides of non-metals are acidic, there is also a pattern of alkaline oxides on the left giving way to increasingly acidic oxides across the period. Within the same group elements are generally very similar, though they may show a regular trend in their properties. The similarity occurs because the atoms have the same number of electrons in their outer shell. You should revisit the chemistry of the periodic table at this stage.

Periodic Patterns 1. Metals on the right to non-metals on the left. Therefore electrical conductivity decreases as you move left to right. 2. Metal compounds are basic while non-metal compounds are acidic, thus the acidity changes as you move left to right.

Can you complete the following table? The first row has been filled in to help you. What would the electron configuration of each element be? Element Symbol Number of protons Number Number of Mass of electrons number neutrons Atomic number

Silicon

29 14

Si

14

15

14

29

14

12

14

31

11

18

29 16

20

40