How many different substances?

How many different substances can you think of?

There are millions of different substances! What are they all

made of?

All substances are made of atoms

All substances are made of tiny particles called atoms.
Many substances are made up of different types of atoms.

hydrogen and oxygen atoms carbon and hydrogen atoms

iron, aluminium, silicon,

oxygen and boron atoms

carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen,

oxygen and sulfur atoms

What atoms are you made of?

Atoms are the smallest part of an element. Different elements
join together in different ways to make all the materials in the
Universe, from rocks to air.
Just like all materials
in the Universe,
humans are also
made of atoms.
Which atoms
do you think are
most common in
the human body?

other (%)
sulfur (0.25%)
potassium (0.35%)
phosphorus (1%)
calcium (2%)
nitrogen (3%)
hydrogen (10%)
carbon (18%)
oxygen (65%)

How big are atoms?

Atoms have a diameter of about 0.00000001 cm, which is far
too small to be seen with your eyes.
However, microscopes
called Scanning Tunnelling
Microscopes allow scientists
to see the outlines of atoms.
In one glass of water there are around:
12,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
oxygen atoms
24,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
hydrogen atoms.

What is an element?
An element is a substance that is made of only one type of
atom. Elements are the simplest substances in the universe.

Copper is an
element made
up of copper
atoms only.

Carbon is an
element made
up of carbon
atoms only.

Helium is an
element made
up of helium
atoms only.

What are molecules?

Molecules are made up of two or more atoms. Molecules can
be formed by two atoms of the same element, or by atoms
from two or more different elements.
Oxygen is an element made
up of oxygen atoms only.

How many atoms are there

in one oxygen molecule?
Other elements that
form molecules include
hydrogen, nitrogen,
chlorine and bromine.

Who discovered the elements?

Some elements, such as silver and gold, have been known
about and used by people for centuries. However, many of the
elements were only discovered in the 18th and 19th century.
For example, British scientist Joseph Priestley discovered
oxygen when he experimented with heating gases.
Other scientists, such as Humphrey Davy,
used electrolysis to isolate elements such
as sodium and potassium for the first time.
At the start of the 20th century, Marie Curie
and other scientists discovered radioactive
elements like polonium and francium.
Which countries were these elements
named after?

How many elements are there?

There are currently 117 elements that have been discovered,
94 of which are naturally occurring. The remaining 23
elements only exist under laboratory conditions.
How many naturally-occurring elements can you name?

How are artificial elements made?

The first element to be artificially created was technetium,

which was discovered in 1937 by Italian scientists working
with the naturally-occurring element molybdenum.
Since then, other artificial
elements have been made in
particle accelerators. CERN is
one of the worlds largest particle
accelerators. It is situated
underground on the FrenchSwiss border and is run by
scientists from all over Europe.
Most artificial elements are very unstable and usually only
exist for milliseconds before they decompose.

Symbols for elements

Each element can be represented by a symbol.

For many elements, the symbol is the start of the name, for
example H = hydrogen or Li = lithium. Can you think of any
other symbols like this?
However, some of the symbols are not always as you might
expect; for example, Pb = lead. Can you think of any other
elements with unexpected symbols?
The first letter of an elements symbol is always a capital
letter, e.g. N (not n) for nitrogen.

If there are two letters in the elements symbol, the second

letter is always a small letter, e.g. Co (not CO) for cobalt.

Why are symbols important?

Why might scientists find it easier
to use symbols for elements rather
than names?
Elements have different names
in different languages, e.g. in
Portuguese, nitrogen is called
azote, and iron is called ferro.
Symbols are quicker to write than names, and can be easily
used in chemical formulae, diagrams and equations.

Symbols for molecules of elements

The atoms of some elements join together in molecules.
Combining the symbols of the atoms in a molecule gives you
the formula for the molecule.
What is the formula for the molecules in each element?
oxygen

O2

hydrogen

H2

nitrogen

N2

This tells you that there are two atoms in each molecule.

The periodic table

All the known elements are shown in the periodic table.

Can you spot any patterns in how the elements are arranged
in the periodic table?

How are the elements arranged?

The elements
in groups
tend to
have similar
properties.

periods 1 to 6

The elements in the periodic table are arranged in families

called groups and periods. A group is a vertical column in the
periodic table; a period is a horizontal row.
groups 1 to 18

For example, all the elements in group 18 are very unreactive

gases at room temperature, while all the elements in group 1
are very reactive metals.

Solids, liquids and gases

Why are some symbol names in the periodic table, below,
shown in different colours? (clue: think about group properties)

Bromine and mercury are liquids at room temperature; all

the other elements are solids or gases.

Metalloids
Metals are on the left and in the centre of the periodic table.

Non-metals are located mostly on the right.

Metalloids sometimes behave like metals and sometimes
like non-metals.
Metalloids are located
between metals and
non-metals in the
periodic table.
Silicon and germanium
are examples of
metalloids.