Notes

Chapter 2 Atoms, Molecules, and Ions

Atomic Theory

• Robert Boyle (1627–1691): Provided evidence for the atoms and defined the nature of an
element.
• Joseph Priestley (1733–1804): Isolated oxygen gas from decomposition of mercury(II)
oxide.
• Antoine Lavoisier (1743–1794): Showed that mass of products is exactly equal to the
mass of reactants.
• Law of Mass Conservation: Mass is neither created nor destroyed in chemical reactions.
• Law of Definite Proportions: Different samples of a pure chemical substance always
contain the same proportion of elements by mass.
• John Dalton (1766–1844): Proposed explanations for the laws of mass conservation and
definite proportions.
o Postulate # 1 - Each element is composed of extremely small particles called
atoms.
o Postulate # 2 - All atoms of a given element are identical, the atoms of different
elements are different and have different properties (including different masses)
o Postulate # 3 - Atoms of an element are not changed into different types of atoms
by chemical reactions, atoms are neither created or destroyed in chemical
reaction.
o Postulate # 4 - Compounds are formed when atoms of more than one elements
combine, a given compound always has the same relative number and kind of
atoms.
• Law of Multiple Proportions: When two elements form two different compounds, the
mass ratios are related by small whole numbers.

The Structure of Atoms

Cathode-Ray Tube (Thomson, 1856–1940):

• Cathode rays consist of tiny negatively charged particles, now called electrons.
• Deflection of electron depends on three factors:
o Strength of electric or magnetic field
o Size of negative charge on electron
o Mass of the electron
• Thomson calculated the electron’s charge to mass ratio as 1.758820 x 108 Coulombs per
gram.
Oil Drop Experiment (Millikan, 1868–1953):
• Applied a voltage to oppose the downward fall of charged drops and suspend them.
• Voltage on plates place 1.602176 x 10-19 C of charge on each oil drop.
• Millikan calculated the electron’s mass as 9.109382 x 10-28 grams.
Discovery of Nucleus (Rutherford, 1871 – 1937):

1
 • Rutherford irradiated gold foil with a beam of alpha (α ) particles to search for positive
charged particles.
• Atom must be mostly empty space except for a central positive mass concentration.
• Isotopes: Atoms with identical atomic numbers, but different mass numbers.
• Average Isotopic Mass: A weighted average of the isotopic masses of an element’s
naturally occurring isotopes.
• Atomic Mass: A weighted average of the isotopic masses of an element’s naturally
occurring isotopes.

Atoms, Molecules, and Ions

• Covalent Bonding (Molecules): The most common type of chemical bond is formed
when two atoms share some of their electrons.
• Ionic Bonding (Ionic Solids): These are formed by a transfer of one or more electrons
from one atom to another.
Naming Binary Ionic Compounds:
• Identify the positive ion and then the negative ion.
• The positive ion uses its elemental name.
• The negative ion substitutes the second half of its elemental name with –ide.
• Do not use Greek prefixes such as mono–, di–, or tri–.
Naming Binary Molecular Compounds:
• The more cationlike element uses its elemental name.
• The more anionlike element substitutes the second half of its elemental name with –ide.
• Use the Greek prefixes to express the number of each element present.