The Atom

Chapter 8

Great Idea:
All of the matter around us is made of atoms, the
chemical building blocks of our world
 Chapter Outline
• The Smallest Pieces
• The Structure of the Atom
• When Matter Meets Light
• The Periodic Table of the Elements
The Smallest Pieces
 The Smallest Pieces
• Democritus
– Cut matter to reach smallest piece
– Called “the atom” or “uncuttable”
– All material formed from atoms
 Elements

• John Dalton
– Father of modern
atomic theory
– Cannot break down
elements
– Elements
composed of atoms
• Example: Water
Molecule is 1
oxygen atom and 1
hydrogen atom
 Are Atoms Real?
• Evidence for the reality of atoms
– Behavior of a gas
– Chemical combinations
– Radioactivity
– Brownian motion
– X-ray crystallography
– Atomic-scale microscopy
 The Behavior of a Gas
Relationship between Volume and Pressure
90

• Bernoulli
80

Pressure (mmHg)
70

– atoms have mass & 60

50

velocity and thus 40

kinetic energy 30

20

• Decreasing volume 10
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

increases pressure (A)

Volume
Relationship between Temperature and Pressure

• Increasing
55

temperature increases
50

pressure (B) Pressure

45

40

35
B
30
220 240 260 280 300 320 340 360 380 400 420 440

Temperature
 Chemical Combinations
• Dalton applied law of definite proportions
– Elements combine in a specific ratio of weights
• Ex: Water is 8 parts oxygen to 1 part hydrogen
• Ratio of weights is a small whole number
– Ex: 12 lbs Carbon can combine with either 16
lbs or 32 lbs of oxygen
• Implication: some units of elements are
fundamentally indivisible
 Radioactivity
• Radioactivity
• Phosphors flash when hit by radiation
• 1903 demonstrated the twinkling
caused by this effect
 Brownian Motion
• Brownian motion: erratic, jiggling
motion
– pollen grains suspended in water
• Einstein: motion is random collisions
of atoms
– Predicted particle movement
• Perrin tested and confirmed
Einstein’s predictions
 X-ray Crystallography
• Developed in 1912
• Demonstrates arrangement of atoms
in crystals
 Discovering Chemical Elements

• Electrolysis
• Mendeleev
• Current Periodic Table
– 112 elements
• 92 found in nature
• Everyday elements
– Helium, carbon,
aluminum, copper, gold
The Structure of the Atom
 The Structure of the Atom
• Thomson identified electron
– Negatively charged
– Smaller and lighter than smallest atom
• Atoms are NOT fundmental building
blocks, but are made up of smaller
more fundamental particles
 The Atomic Nucleus
• Rutherford determined
atomic structure Most particles
• Concluded traveled through foil

– atom has nucleus at Some deflected

center surrounded by
electrons
• Later discoveries found
nucleus is composed of
protons and neutrons
 Why the Rutherford Atom
Couldn’t Work

• Why?
– Object in circular orbit is accelerating
– Accelerated electrical charge emits
electromagnetic radiation
– Electrons giving off energy while
orbiting
• Result: electrons spin toward nucleus
eventually atom ceases to exist
• Rutherford atom exists <1min
When Matter Meets Light
 The Bohr Atom
• First working model of atom
• Energy levels for electrons
– Specific distances from
nucleus
– Electrons exist with no
radiation
– Electrons cannot exist
between allowed distances
(energy levels)
Example Figure 8-7
Energy changes
when level
changes

Any level
above
ground
state
Lowest
energy level
Photons: Particles of Light

Used to move
electron to
higher energy
state

Photon emitted as
electron moves to
lower energy state
 Photons cont.
• Quantum leap or jump-electron
disappears from original location and
reappears in final location-never at
positions in between

Energy is equal
 Energy in Bohr atom
• Energy required to leave ground
state
– Absorb photon
– Heat
• Increases collisions
 Spectroscopy
• Atoms emit and absorb different
photons
• Depends on differences between
energy levels
• Each atom has distinct set of photons
• Spectrum: all photons emitted by an
atom
– Used for identification
Spectroscopy cont.

Light from
gaseous atoms is
spread out by
passing through
a prism
 Spectroscopy cont.
Each atom produces a unique set of lines-the atomic fingerprint
The Periodic Table of the
Elements
 Periodic Table of the Elements
all colorless,
•Systematizes elements odorless inert
•Columns contain similar elements gases

soft,
silvery
elements
 Why the Periodic Table Works:
Electron Shells

• Patterns mirror
arrangement
of electrons in
shells
• Pauli exclusion
principle
• First shell 2
electrons,
second shell 8
etc.