Chapter 3

The Structure of
The Atom
 1. Atom

Warm up
• What is all matter made up? And to what do they look
like?

• Make a list of inferences about any properties of

objects in the box.

• How could you learn more about the objects in the

box without opening the box?

• Scientist face these same questions as they try to

learn more about atoms.
 1. Atom

• Scientist have accepted that the smallest parts of

substances are called atoms.

• Atom means indivisible derived from

atomos in Greek language because of
its very small size.
The History of The Atom

John Dalton (1766 – 1844) is

an English scientist. Although
he was color-blind, he never
stopped studying chemistry
and meteorology
1. Dalton’s Atomic Theory
1. Matter is made up of tiny particles called atoms
2. An element is matter composed of identical
atoms that have the same mass and properties.
3. Different elements have different masses and
properties
4. A compund is composed of at least atom from
different elements with a fixed and specific
propotion. Atoms in compound are combine
together through atomic bonding
5. Atoms cannot be created nor destroyed.
Chemical reactions are merely a rearrangement
of atoms.
2. Thomson’s Atomic Model

Joseph John
Thomson
(1856 – 1940)

He
discovered
the electron
in 1897
2. Thomson’s Atomic Model
Thomson’s atomic model

Negatively charge electrons spread out in the

atom.
3. Rutherford’s Atomic Model

Ernest Rutherford (1871 – 1937)

He discovered the nucleus in 1911 and the proton in 1919
3. Rutherford’s Atomic Model

Alpha particles = positively charge

3. Rutherford’s Atomic Model
3. Rutherford’s Atomic Model
 2. Subatomic Particles

• Scientist believed that atoms were indivisible up to 20th

century. Today it is well known that atoms have
subatomic particles, called protons, neutrons and
electrons.

• Protons are positively charged particles found in the

nucleus of an atom, and denoted by “p”. Each element
has certain number of protons which differ the element
from others.
Chapter 3 2. Subatomic Particles

• Neutrons are neutral particles found in the nucleus of

an atom, and denoted by “n”.

• Electrons are negatively charged particles placed

around the nucleus of an atom, and shown by “e-”.

• Protons and neutrons almost have the same masses,

but electrons have negligible mass with respect to
protons and neutrons.
Chapter 3 2. Subatomic Particles
Chapter 3 2. Subatomic Particles
Chapter 3 2. Subatomic Particles
Chapter 3 2. Subatomic Particles

• Neutral atoms have the equal number of protons and

electrons.
• Electrons are rotating in certain places called orbit,
energy level or shell. Energy levels are represented by
letters, K, L, M, N, O…etc, or numbers, 1, 2, 3, 4, …etc.

• Each shell can hold a certain number of electrons

calculated by the equation of “2n2” where n refers to
number of shell.

• The electrons located in the outermost shell of atoms are

called valance electrons.
Chapter 3 2. Subatomic Particles
 Chapter 3 2. Subatomic Particles

• In the 1st shell, No. of e- = 2x12 = 2e-

In the 2nd shell, No. of e- = 2x22 = 8e-
In the 3rd shell, No. of e- = 2x32 = 18e-
In the 4th shell, No. of e- = 2x42 = 32e-
Example 1
Show the electron configuration of 6C and 13Al atoms.

Solution
6C: 2) 4)

13Al: 2) 8) 3)
Question 1
Show the electron configuration and valence electrons of
17Cl, 16S, 7N, 19K, 20Ca atoms.
Chapter 3 2. Subatomic Particles
 Chapter 3 3. Isotopes
• Isotope atoms have the same number of protons but
different number of neutrons.

Example 2
12 13 14
C C C atoms are isotopes.
6 6 6
All they have 6 protons but 6, 7 and 8 neutrons respectively.

• They have similar chemical properties but different

physical properties.
Chapter 3 3. Isotopes
 Chapter 3 3. Isotones
• Isotones, atoms with the same number of neutrons, but
different numbers of protons.

Example 3
31 32
P S atoms are isotones.
15 16

Each have 16 neutrons but 15 and 16 protons respectively.

• Isotone atoms are completely different atoms, they have

different chemical and physical characteristics.
Chapter 3 4. Ions
• Electrically charged atoms are called ions.

• When an atom loses electrons it becomes positively

charged ion, called cation.
• When an atom gains electrons it becomes negatively
charged ion, called anion.

• Charge of an atom, q , can be found with q = p - e.

Chapter 3 4. Ions
Chapter 3 4. Ions
Chapter 3 4. Ions
Atom

Neurtal Atom Ion

p=e (Charged Atom)

Cation (+) Anion (-)

(p>e) (p<e)
Chapter 3 4. Ions
Chapter 3 4. Ions

Example 4
Find the charge and ion type of atom.

Atom Proton Electron Charge Ion

Fe 26 24
Al 13 10
O 8 10
P 15 15
Cl 17 18
Chapter 3 4. Ions

Solution

Atom Proton Electron Charge Ion

Fe 26 24 +2 Cation
Al 13 10 +3 Cation
O 8 10 -2 Anion
P 15 15 0 Neutral
Cl 17 18 -1 Anion
 Chapter 3 4. Ions

Example 5

Li+1, Ca+2, Al+3, Pb+4 are cations.

F-1, O-2, P-3 are anions.

+1 -
- -2 -3
NH4 OH NO3 CO3 PO4 are polyatomic ions
 Chapter 3 5. The Atomic Terminology

1. Atomic Number, Z

• Atomic number = Number of Protons

• Each type of atom has different number of protons.

For a neutral atom,

• Atomic number = Number of protons = Number of electrons

Z=p=e
 Chapter 3 5. The Atomic Terminology

2. Atomic Mass Number, A

• Atomic mass number = Number of Protons + Number of Neutrons
A= p+ n

Example 6
Fill in the blanks in the table below.

Atom p n Z A
Ti 22 48
Al 14 27
S 16 16
Br 45 35
Chapter 3 5. The Atomic Terminology

Solution

Atom p n Z A
Ti 22 26 22 48
Al 13 14 13 27
S 16 16 16 32
Br 35 45 35 80
Chapter 3 5. The Atomic Terminology

Atomic Mass Number, A Charge, q

Neutrons, n

Protons, p X
Atomic Number, Z
A=p+n
q=p-e

Electron, e
Chapter 3 5. The Atomic Terminology

Example 7
What is the number of protons and atomic mass
number of Zn.

? +2
35
?
Zn 28
 Chapter 3 5. The Atomic Terminology

Solution
q=p-e
A=p+n
65 +2
+2 = p – 28
p = 30
A = 30 + 35
A = 65
35
30
Zn 28
 Chapter 3 5. The Atomic Terminology

Example 8
Cr+3 ion has 21 electrons and its atomic mass number is 52.
What is the number of neutrons for Cr ?

Solution
q=p-e 3 = p – 21 p = 24
A=p+n 52 = 24 + n n = 28
 Chapter 3 5. The Atomic Terminology

3.Relative Atomic Mass and Relative Formula Mass

• 12C is accepted as a standard atom. The mass of the 12C

isotope atom is accepted as 12 amu ( atomic mass unit) and

atomic masses of other atoms were calculated accordingly.

For example relative atomic masses of H atom is 1.008

(≈1 amu) and oxygen atom becomes 15.9994 (≈16 amu)

with respect to 12C.

 Chapter 3 5. The Atomic Terminology

• Relative formula mass is sum of the relative atomic masses of

atoms found in a compound.

Example 9
Relative formula mass of CH4 and NO2

CH4 = (1x12) + (4x1) = 16 amu

NO2 = (1x14) + (2x16) = 46 amu
 Chapter 3 5. The Atomic Terminology

4.Average Atomic Mass

• Most of the elements in nature are found as a mixture of

isotope atoms.
• The average atomic mass is the average masses of natural
isotopes of an element.

Average Atomic Mass =

A1x% of 1st isotope + A2x% of 2nd isotope + ……
A1 and A2 are atomic mass numbers of natural isotopes.
 Chapter 3 5. The Atomic Terminology

Example 10
Naturally occurring Ga consists of 60% 69Ga and 40% 71Ga.
What is the average mass of Ga?

Solution
Average Atomic Mass =
A1x% of 1st isotope + A2x% of 2nd isotope + ……

Average Atomic Mass = 69x60 + 71x40

100 100
= 69.80 amu
Chapter 3 5. The Atomic Terminology
 Chapter 3 5. The Atomic Terminology

Example 11
Find the average atomic mass of Pb?
End of the chapter 3