Atomic Structure
Image courtesy of www.lab-initio.com
Chemistry Timeline #1
B.C.
400 B.C. Demokritos and Leucippos use the term "atomos”
2000 years of Alchemy
1500's
Georg Bauer: systematic metallurgy
Paracelsus: medicinal application of minerals
1600's
Robert Boyle:The Skeptical Chemist. Quantitative experimentation, identification of
elements
1700s'
Georg Stahl: Phlogiston Theory
Joseph Priestly: Discovery of oxygen
Antoine Lavoisier: The role of oxygen in combustion, law of conservation of
mass, first modern chemistry textbook
Chemistry Timeline #2
1800's
Joseph Proust: The law of definite proportion (composition)
John Dalton: The Atomic Theory, The law of multiple proportions
Joseph Gay-Lussac: Combining volumes of gases, existence of diatomic molecules
Amadeo Avogadro: Molar volumes of gases
Jons Jakob Berzelius: Relative atomic masses, modern symbols for the elements
Dmitri Mendeleyev: The periodic table
J.J. Thomson: discovery of the electron
Henri Becquerel: Discovery of radioactivity
1900's
Robert Millikan: Charge and mass of the electron
Ernest Rutherford: Existence of the nucleus, and its relative size
Meitner & Fermi: Sustained nuclear fission
Ernest Lawrence: The cyclotron and trans-uranium elements
Dalton’s Atomic Theory (1808)
All matter is composed of extremely
small particles called atoms
Atoms of a given element are
identical in size, mass, and other
properties; atoms of different
elements differ in size, mass, and
John Dalton
other properties
Atoms cannot be subdivided, created, or destroyed
Atoms of different elements combine in simple
whole-number ratios to form chemical compounds
In chemical reactions, atoms are combined,
separated, or rearranged
Modern Atomic Theory
Several changes have been made to Dalton’s theory.
Dalton said:
Atoms of a given element are identical
in size, mass, and other properties;
atoms of different elements differ in
size, mass, and other properties
Modern theory states:
Atoms of an element have a
characteristic average mass which is
unique to that element.
Modern Atomic Theory #2
Dalton said:
Atoms cannot be subdivided, created, or
destroyed
Modern theory states:
Atoms cannot be subdivided, created, or
destroyed in ordinary chemical reactions.
However, these changes CAN occur in
nuclear reactions
Discovery of the Electron
In 1897, J.J. Thomson used a cathode ray tube
to deduce the presence of a negatively charged
particle.
Cathode ray tubes pass electricity through a gas
that is contained at a very low pressure.
Thomson’s Atomic Model
J.J. Thomson
Thomson believed that the
electrons were like plums embedded
in a positively charged “pudding,”
thus it was called the “plum
pudding” model.
Mass of the Electron
1909 – Robert Millikan
determines the mass of the
electron.
Mass of the
electron is
9.109 x 10-31 kg
The oil drop apparatus
Conclusions from the Study of
the Electron
Cathode rays have identical properties regardless
of the element used to produce them. All elements
must contain identically charged electrons.
Atoms are neutral, so there must be positive
particles in the atom to balance the negative
charge of the electrons
Electrons have so little mass that atoms must
contain other particles that account for most of
the mass
Rutherford’s Gold Foil Experiment
Alpha particles are helium nuclei
Particles were fired at a thin sheet of
gold foil
Particle hits on the detecting screen
(film) are recorded
Try it Yourself!
In the following pictures, there is a target hidden by
a cloud. To figure out the shape of the target, we
shot some beams into the cloud and recorded where
the beams came out. Can you figure out the shape of
the target?
The Answers
Target #1 Target #2
Rutherford’s Findings
Most of the particles passed right through
A few particles were deflected
VERY FEW were greatly deflected
“Like howitzer shells bouncing off
of tissue paper!”
Conclusions:
The nucleus is small
The nucleus is dense
The nucleus is positively charged
Atomic Particles
Particle Charge Mass (kg) Location
Electron -1 9.109 x 10-31 Electron
cloud
Proton +1 1.673 x 10-27 Nucleus
Neutron 0 1.675 x 10-27 Nucleus
The Atomic Helium-4
Scale
Most of the mass of
the atom is in the
nucleus (protons and
neutrons)
Electrons are found
outside of the nucleus
(the electron cloud)
Most of the volume
of the atom is empty
space
Image: User Yzmo Wikimedia Commons .
About Quarks…
Protons and neutrons are NOT fundamental particles.
Protons are made of two “up” quarks and
one “down” quark.
Neutrons are made of one “up” quark
and two “down” quarks.
Quarks are held together by “gluons”
Images: Arpad Horvath, Wikimedia Commons .
Isotopes
Isotopes are atoms of the same element having
different masses due to varying numbers of neutrons.
Isotope Protons Electrons Neutrons Nucleus
Hydrogen–1 1 1 0
(protium)
Hydrogen-2 1 1 1
(deuterium)
Hydrogen-3 1 1 2
(tritium)
Atomic Masses
Atomic mass is the weighted average of all the
naturally isotopes of that element.
Isotope Symbol Composition of % in nature
the nucleus
Carbon-12 12C 6 protons 98.89%
6 neutrons
Carbon-13 13C 6 protons 1.11%
7 neutrons
Carbon-14 14C 6 protons <0.01%
8 neutrons
Carbon = 12.011
Atomic Number
Atomic number (Z) of an element is
the number of protons in the nucleus
of each atom of that element.
Element # of protons Atomic # (Z)
Carbon 6 6
Phosphorus 15 15
Gold 79 79
Mass Number
Mass number is the number of
protons and neutrons in the nucleus
of an isotope.
Mass # = p+ + n0
Nuclide p+ n0 e- Mass #
Oxygen - 18 8 10 8 18
Arsenic - 75 33 42 33 75
Phosphorus - 31 15 16 15 31