Chapter 2 Atomic Structure - Notes
Elements, Compounds and Mixtures
Elements: A substance made of atoms that share the SAME number
of protons and cannot be broken down into simpler substances by
chemical methods.
o There are 118 elements in the periodic table, such as sodium.
Compounds: Two or more elements chemically bonded together
(in a fixed proportion).
o e.g. Carbon Dioxide, Sodium Chloride
Mixtures: Two or more elements not chemically bonded together.
o e.g. Sand and Water, Oil and Water
Atomic Structure
All substances are made of tiny particles called atoms, the building blocks of
all matter.
The structure of the atom has a central nucleus containing neutrons
and protons surrounded by electrons in shells
The characteristics of neutrons, protons, and electrons are as follows:
Since electrons and protons have opposing and equal charges, the
atom’s overall charge is neutral.
Neutrons have the purpose of holding the nucleus together. The larger
the nucleus gets, the more neutrons are required to hold the nucleus
together.
Proton and Nucleon Number
The Proton Number (Atomic Number) is the number of protons
in the nucleus of an atom.
It is unique to each element. It is denoted by the letter “Z”. For a
neutral atom, the number of protons and electrons are equal;
therefore, the proton number (Z) also corresponds to the number of
electrons.
The Nucleon Number (Mass Number) is the total number of
protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom.
Mass number = number of protons + number of neutrons
Number of protons = mass number – number of neutrons
Number of neutrons = mass number – number of protons
The following format (AZX Notation) is shown below:
Electronic Configurations of Elements & Ions
Atoms have electrons that orbit around a central nucleus, and these orbits
are referred to as electron shells.
The energy levels of the shells increase as their distance from the
nucleus increases.
The first shell has a max capacity of 2 electrons, while the
subsequent shell can hold up to 8.
For this syllabus, we only need to know the general complete
electronic configuration as (2.8.8)
Group VIII noble gases have an entire outer shell
The number of outer shell electrons is equal to the group number
in Groups I to VII.
the number of occupied electron shells is equal to the period
number
Isotopes
Isotopes: different atoms of the same element with the same number
of protons but different numbers of neutrons.
The isotopes of an element have the same chemical properties
because they contain the same number of outer shell electrons
and, therefore, have the same electronic configuration.
The difference in mass affects the physical properties, such as density,
boiling point and melting point
Relative Atomic Masses
Most elements exist naturally as a mixture of their isotopes. Using the
data on the abundance of these naturally occurring isotopes, we can
calculate the relative atomic mass of the element.
The formula:
An example for calculating the relative mass and abundance:
o Question: Iridium has two isotopes. These isotopes are Iridium -
191 and Iridium - 193. A natural sample consists of 37.3% of
Iridium - 191. Calculate the relative atomic mass (Ar) of the
natural sample of Iridium.
o of Iridium - 191 = 37.3
o of Iridium - 193 = 100
o Ar=(37.3×,191)+(62.7×193)100
o Ar = 192.2