ATOMS & ATOMIC

PROPERTIES

 THE ATOMIC STRUCTURE

All

matter is composed of the same

basic building blocks called atoms.
Atoms are basic unit of an element that
can enter into chemical combination.
An atom is composed of three subatomic
particles.

 THE ATOMIC STRUCTURE

The nucleus is a dense core that contains the protons and

neutrons. Most of the mass of an atom resides in the
nucleus.
The electron cloud is composed of electrons that move
rapidly in the almost empty space surrounding the nucleus.
The electron cloud comprises most of the volume of an

 THE ATOMIC STRUCTURE

 History of Subatomic Particles

CATHODE RAYS

WILLIAM CROOKES

Used a vacuum discharge tube called Crookes tube, to show that there was
some kind of matter coming from the cathode that cause the greenish glow
from the glass in the anode (+ electrode)
These particles were called CATHODE RAYS because they originate from
the cathode.

 THE ELECTRON
SIR
JOSEPH
JOHN
THOMSON
established
the particle
nature of cathode rays.
He concluded that cathode
rays are negatively charged
fundamental
particles
found in all atoms.
Cathode rays are now called

 The ELECTRON
Millikans oil-drop experiment

Robert Millikan, in 1909, succeeded in measuring the charge of an

electron by performing the oil-drop experiment.

The PROTON & NEUTRON

Subsequent experiments led to the discovery

of positive particles (protons) and neutral
particles (neutrons) in the nucleus.

Protons were
Rutherford.

Neutrons in 1932 by British scientist James

Chadwick (18911972).

Thus, the atom is composed of electrons,

protons, and neutrons.

discovered

in

1919

by

 ATOMIC PROPERTIES

 THE ATOMIC STRUCTURE

atomic

number (Z)

Every atom of a given type of element always

has the same number of protons in the
nucleus.

the atomic number tells us both the number of protons

in the nucleus and the number of electrons in the
electron cloud of a neutral atom

 THE ATOMIC STRUCTURE

ATOMIC WEIGHT/MASS (A)

an element is a mixture of isotopes, and it is

useful to know the average mass, called the
atomic weight (or atomic mass), of the
atoms in a sample.

 THE ATOMIC STRUCTURE

MASS
is

NUMBER (A)

the sum of the number of protons and

neutrons.
both protons and neutrons contribute to
the mass of an atom.

 THE ATOMIC STRUCTURE

atomic

mass unit

which defines the mass of individual

atoms relative to a standard mass.
One atomic mass unit (amu) equals
one-twelfth the mass of a carbon
atom that has six protons and six
neutrons; 1 amu = 1.661 x 1024 g.

 THE ATOMIC STRUCTURE

ATOMIC NUMBER, AND MASS NUMBER

 SAMPLE EXERCISE
Give the complete chemical symbol
for the atom that contains 82
protons, 82 electrons, and 126
neutrons.

 SAMPLE EXERCISE
Determining the Number of Subatomic Particles in Atoms

How

many protons, neutrons, and

electrons are in (a) an atom of 197Au,
(b) an atom of strontium-90?

 PRACTICE EXERCISE
How

many protons, neutrons,

and electrons are in (a) a
138
Ba atom, (b) an atom of
phosphorus-31?

 PRACTICE EXERCISE