Chapter 2:
The Chemical
Context of
Life
Elements and Atoms
Isotopes
Isotopes of an element differ in the number of neutrons. Many
elements exist in nature as a mixture of different isotopes.
• Helium 3 is an isotope • Helium 4 occurs predominantly in
• 2 protons nature
• 1 neutron • 2 protons
• 2 neutrons
Stable Isotope Analysis
• You are what you eat!
• Ratio of C12 to C13
• Ratio of N14 to N15
• Help to inform diet
based on predator and
prey signatures
Electrons
Ions
• Certain chemical reactions cause atoms to gain
or lose electrons.
• The result is an ion
• An atom that has lost an electron is positively
charged
• This is called a cation
• An atom that has gained an electron is negatively
charged
• This is called an anion
Energy Levels of Electrons
• Potential energy is the
energy that something
has because of its
location or structure
• Individual electrons in
an atom differ in their
amounts of potential
energy
Electrons and the Shell Model
• The Shell Model describes how many
electrons reside in each energy shell
• 1st shell can hold two electrons
• This is the lowest energy level
• 2nd shell can hold eight electrons
• 3rd shell can hold up to 18 electrons
• But we will only consider 8
• Energy level increases in each
subsequent shell
Hydrogen 2 Atomic number Helium
1H He 2He
First Mass number
Atomic mass 4.003 Element symbol
shell Electron
distribution
diagram
Lithium Beryllium Boron Carbon Nitrogen Oxygen Fluorine Neon
3Li 4Be 5B 6C 7N 8O 9F 10 Ne
Second
shell
Sodium Magnesium Aluminum Silicon Phosphorus Sulfur Chlorine Argon
11Na 12 Mg 13 Al 14 Si 15 P 16 S 17 Cl 18 Ar
Third
shell
Rules for filling electron shells:
1. The first 2 electrons go into the first shell.
2. The next 4 electrons go into second shell,
unpaired.
3. The next 4 electrons pair up with the first 4 in
the second shell.
Valence Electrons & Valence Number
• Electrons in the outermost shell are called Valence Electrons
• Outermost shell is the valence shell
• Valence electrons are involved in chemical bonds
• Elements with full valence shell are chemically inert
• noble gases such as Helium, Neon, Argon
• The number of unpaired electrons in the valence shell is the Valence
Number of that atom
• The valence number determines the number and type of bonds an atom
can form
Valence Electrons
Oxygen has ___ protons, ___ electrons
How many neutrons?
How many electrons in oxygen’s 1st shell?
How many electrons in oxygen’s 2nd shell?
How many valence electrons?
How many unpaired electrons?
What is oxygen’s valence number?
Structure of Atoms & Types of Bonds
• Atoms want to fill their valence shells
• They can take electron(s), give up electrons(s), or share electrons
• This is what creates bonds!
• Types of chemical bonds:
• Ionic bonds
• Covalent bonds
• Hydrogen bonds
Bonding pattern of the four most common
elements
Ionic Bonds
• Atoms give up/receive electrons to/from their
bonding partners
• This is a transfer of at least one electron from one
atom to another atom
• After the electron transfer, both atoms are ions
• The atom that donated an electron is ___
• The atom that received an electron is ___
• Example: Sodium and Chlorine
Ionic Bonds: Sodium and Chlorine
• Chlorine (Cl) takes an electron from sodium (Na). This completes chlorine’s
valence shell. And, now sodium has one less electron.
• After this transfer, sodium has a positive charge (cation) and chlorine has a
negative charge (anion)
• The opposite charges create an attraction that holds the elements together
Covalent Bonds
• A covalent bond is the sharing of two valence
electrons by two atoms
• Very strong, stable bonds
• The shared electrons count as part of each atom’s
valence shell
• A single bond is the sharing of one pair electrons
• A double bond is the sharing of two pairs of electrons
Electronegativity
• Electronegativity is the ability of an atom to attract electrons
• Depends on number of protons in each atom
• Depends on molecular structure
• The more electronegative an atom, the more strongly it pulls covalently
shared electrons toward itself
• In general, an atom with more protons is more electronegative than an
atom with fewer protons
Two types of covalent bonds
◼ Nonpolar covalent bond: Both atoms in the bond have
equal or almost equal electronegativity
◼ Atoms share electrons equally
◼ Polar covalent bond: One atom is more electronegative
than the other
◼ Atoms do not share electrons equally
Nonpolar Covalent bond
◼ Atoms with equal or similar electronegativity
◼ Atoms share the electrons equally
Polar Covalent bonds
• Atoms do not share the electrons equally
• One atom is more electronegative than the other and pulls the shared electrons close
to it
• Unequal sharing of electrons causes a partial positive area and a partial negative
area across the molecule
Hydrogen Bonds
• A hydrogen bond is not really a true bond at
all!
• Hydrogen bonds are bonds of molecular
force
• No sharing or stealing of electrons
• It is the attractive force between two polar
molecules
• the hydrogen atom in one molecule is
attracted to the electronegative atom in the
other molecule