Unit
2 Subatomic particles
Atoms are the basic building blocks that make up elements. Scientists have
spent many years trying to discover what makes up an atom. Each new
discovery has added to our knowledge of atoms. The timeline below shows
the main events in the development of the scientific theories about atoms.
In the 1800s, a British chemist and physicist, John Dalton (1766–1844),
developed the first atomic theory. He suggested that an atom was a solid
Did you know? sphere. His model of the atom looked like a billiard ball.
The Greek
British scientist, Joseph Thomson (1856–1940), also saw the atom at a
philosopher
Democritus (470–380 sphere. He said that tiny electric charges, called electrons, are spread out
BCE) developed the and arranged like layers in an onion inside the sphere. As atoms are neutral
first idea of atoms. He
said that if we cut
matter into smaller
and smaller pieces,
we eventually will not The Atomic Theory timeline
be able to continue.
He called this
smallest unit of
matter the ‘atom’,
from the Greek word
‘atomos’, which
means ‘uncuttable’.
Joseph Thomson (189
Tiny electric charges c
John Dalton (1800–1850): electrons are randoml
Atoms are solid spheres. This was spread throughout th
inside of an atom.
0 A.D.
1750 A.D.
1780 A.D.
1800 A.D.
1803 A.D.
1850 A.D.
1870 A.D.
1898 A.D.
1900 A.D.
1950 A.D.
400 B.C.
Figure 8 Timeline of scientists’ discoveries about the atom
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(do not have a charge) the sphere itself has a positive charge. This model is
called the ‘plum pudding model’ as the electrons are placed like raisins in a
Christmas pudding.
Ernest Rutherford (1871–1937) was a scientist from New Zealand. In 1911,
he conducted some experiments in which he discovered new things about
atoms. He discovered that there is a small centre in an atom with a positive
charge that has almost all the mass of the atom. The centre was called
the nucleus. The space around the nucleus is almost empty except for the
negatively charged electrons.
A Danish scientist, Niels Bohr (1885–1962), discovered that electrons move
in orbits around the nucleus.
In 1932, a British scientist, James Chadwick, discovered that there were
some particles that did not have a charge. These are called neutrons.
Thomson (1898): Ernest Rutherford (1909): Niels Bohr (1913): James Chadwick (1931):
ctric charges called The mass of an atom is a Negatively charged The nucleus contains
ns are randomly small positively charged electrons ,move in particles with no charge
throughout the sphere at the centre of orbits around the called neutrons.
of an atom. the atom. positive nucleus.
1900 A.D.
1950 A.D.
1909 A.D.
1913 A.D.
1931 A.D.
1950 A.D.
1964 A.D.
2000 A.D.
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Key words Atoms are made of subatomic particles
• nucleus – central Today we know that atoms are made up of smaller subatomic particles. Here is
region of an a list of the main points that scientists agree on about the structure of an atom:
atom consisting • The central region of the atom is called the nucleus.
of protons and • The nucleus is made up of positively charged particles called protons
neutrons and electrically neutral particles called neutrons.
• protons – positively • A cloud of negatively charged particles called electrons spin in orbits
charged particles around the nucleus.
found in the
nucleus of an atom • Atoms are neutral because the number of negatively charged particles
(electrons) is equal to the number of positively charged electrons (protons).
• neutrons – neutral
particles found in The nucleus of an atom is extremely small compared to the size of the electron
the nucleus of an cloud. If you picture the whole atom as the sports stadium at Soccer City
atom in Johannesburg, the nucleus would be like a marble in the middle of the
• electrons –
stadium.
negatively charged
particles spinning Activity 3 Revise your knowledge about subatomic particles
around the
nucleus of an atom 1. If you could look inside an atom, what would you see?
• model – idea of 2. Which subatomic particle has:
how something a ) a positive charge
works, based on b ) a negative charge
patterns that c ) no charge?
scientists observe
3. Draw a picture of an atom with three protons, four neutrons and three
electrons.
4. If an atom has five protons, how do you know that it has five electrons
as well?
-
Making models of atoms
-
A scientific model is an idea of how something works. Scientists base
models on what they observe. A model helps us to understand something
-
+ +
+ + +
better. Sometimes a model is a smaller and simpler version of the real
-
+
-
- thing. You built a model of Earth in earlier grades. In some models, we
enlarge something we cannot see and represent it in the way that we think
it works. The diagram at the top of the page is an example of this type of
model. Based on what we observe about the behaviour of elements, we can
represent what an atom looks like.
Figure 9 The nucleus contains
positively charged protons and In Grade 7, you learnt that each element has its own block in the Periodic
neutral neutrons. Negatively Table. A block gives us information about the atoms that make up that
charged electrons move in
element.
orbit around the nucleus.
How to determine the number of subatomic particles in an atom
We can use the information in the Periodic Table to determine the number
of subatomic particles in one atom of any element.
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• Number of protons = atomic number
• Number of electrons = atomic number
(atoms are neutral, so the number of
positive and negative charges must be
equal)
• Number of particles in the nucleus = mass
number
• Number of neutrons = mass number –
atomic number
For example, these are the subatomic particles
in one sodium (Na) atom:
• Number of protons = 11
• Number of electrons = 11 Figure 10 The nucleus and electron cloud of an atom can be compared
to a marble in the middle of the stadium at Soccer City.
• Number of particles in nucleus = 23
• Number of neutrons = 23 – 11 = 12
Atomic number: the number of
protons in the nucleus; this number
identifies the element; no two
Activity 4 Determine the number of subatomic 11 elements have the same atomic
number.
particles
Na Symbol for the element
1. a ) Copy the table below into your books. 23
b ) In the first column, write down the names of the first Mass number: The number of protons
and neutrons in the nucleus
20 elements.
c ) Use the Periodic Table at the back of this book to Figure 11 Atomic information about sodium
complete the table.
Element Symbol Number of Number of Number of Number of
protons electrons protons and neutrons
neutrons
2. The diagrams below show models of certain elements.
a ) Write down the number of protons, electrons and neutrons for each
element.
b ) Identify each element.
1 2
Figure 12 Diagrams for question 2
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Activity 5 Make a 2-dimensional model of an atom
You will need: beads • dried lentils or dried peas • paper plates • glue
1. Choose an element from the first 20 elements in the Periodic Table. Do
not choose any of the elements from question 2 of Activity 4.
a) Determine the number of protons, neutrons and electrons in the atoms
of the element.
b) Use beads to represent the nucleus. Glue beads of the same colour for
each proton in the middle of the paper plate. Use different coloured
beads for the neutrons.
c) Use lentils or dried peas to represent the electrons. Draw an orbit
around the nucleus and glue lentils onto the orbit.
You can see an example of a model of oxygen in Figure 13.
Figure 13 A model of the element oxygen
Key concepts
All atoms are made up of sub-atomic particles: protons, neutrons and
electrons.
Protons are positively charged particles and neutrons are negatively
charged particles. There are always the same number of protons
and neutrons in an atom and together they make up the nucleus.
Negatively charged particles called electrons move around the nucleus.
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