2.

1 Introduction
Some of the important properties of solid materials
depend on geometrical atomic arrangements, and also
the interactions that exist among constituent atoms or
molecules. This chapter will consider several
fundamental and important concepts namely, atomic
structure, electron configurations in atoms and the
periodic table, and the various types of primary and
secondary interatomic bonds that hold together the
atoms comprising a solid.

ATOMIC STRUCTURE
2.2 Fundamental Concepts

Atomic number, Z
number of protons in the nucleus of each element
for an electrically neutral or complete atom, atomic
number also equals the number of electrons
Atomic mass, A
sum of the masses of protons and neutrons within the
nucleus of an atom

Isotopes
variants of a particular chemical element such that, while all isotopes of a given
element have the same number of protons in each atom, they differ in neutron
number.

Atomic weight
weighted average of the atomic masses of the atoms naturally occuring
isotopes
Atomic mass unit, amu
-unit for atomic weight
-1 amu is defined as 1/12 of the atomic mass of the most common isotope of
carbon, carbon 12 (A=12.0000)

1 amu
= 1g
Atom (or molecule)
mol

Mole
-equal to 6.023 x 1023 (Avogadros number) atoms or molecules in one mole of a
substance

2.3 Electrons in Atoms

Quantum Mechanics
Set of principles and laws that govern systems of
atomic and subatomic entities

*Atomic Models
Bohr atomic model
an early attempt to describe electrons in atoms, in terms of
both position (electron orbitals) and energy (quantized
energy levels)
electrons are assumed to revolve around the atomic
nucleus in certain orbitals or energy levels
energy of the electrons are quantized (electrons are
permitted to have only specific values of energy). An
electron may change energy, but in doing so it must make a
quantum jump either to an allowed higher energy (with
absorption of energy) or to a lower energy (with emission
of energy)

Wave-mechanical model
electrons are considered to exhibit both wavelike and
particle-like characteristics

*Quantum Numbers
parameters that characterize electrons in an atom

1. Principal Quantum Number, n

specifies the energy level, & is related to the size of the
electron cloud or the general distance from the
nucleus for a particular group of electrons
energy levels or shells are designated by whole
numbers, or sometimes capital letters as 1 or K, 2 or L,
3 or M, 4 or N, and so on

2. Second quantum number, l

signifies the subshell
related to the shape of the electron probability
distribution
designated by the letters s,p,d,f
depends upon the magnitude of n, l=n-1
(if n=1, l=0 or the s subshell;
if n=2, l=1 or the p subshell;
if n=3, l=2 or the d subshell;
if n=4, l=3 or the f subshell)

3. Magnetic Quantum Number, ml

determines the number of energy states or orbitals
within a sublevel
related to the possible orientation in space with
respect to an applied magnetic field
each sublevel has 2l+1 orbitals with respect to an
applied magnetic field
can be any integral number from +l to l, including
zero

4. Spin Quantum Number, ms

Since it is found that any given orbital can hold a
maximum of 2 electrons with opposite spins (Pauli
Exclusion Principle), there must be two possible values
of ms for each value of ml (that is for each orbital).
These values for ms can either be +1/2 or -1/2, that is for
each value of ml , there are two possibe values of ms, or
two allowed energies within each orbital

*Electron Configuration
The electron configuration of an atom represents the

manner in which these states are occupied

Valence electrons
those that occupy the outermost shell
physical and chemical properties of solids are based on
these

2.4 The Periodic Table

2.5 Bonding Forces and Energies

The net force between two atoms is just the sum

of both attractive and repulsive components.

Mathematically, energy (E) and force (F) are related as,

Bonding energy, Eo
represents the energy that would be required for
infinite separation of atoms

2.6 Primary Interatomic Bonds

Ionic Bonding
formed when one or more electrons are transferred
from one atom to another. This forms a positive ion
and a negative ion, which are then held together by an
electrostatic attraction
Found in compounds that are composed of both
metallic and nonmetallic elements
Is termed nondirectional, the magnitude of the bonds
is equal in all directions around an ion. For ionic
materials to be stable, all positive ions must have as
nearest neighbors negatively charged ions

Covalent Bonding
stable electron configurations are assumed by the
sharing of electrons between adjacent atoms. Two
atoms that are covalently bonded will each contribute
at least one electron to the bond and the shared
electron may be considered to belong to both atoms
Example of covalently bonded molecules are H2, Cl2,
F2, CH4, H2O, HNO3, HF. Also are solids: diamon,
silicon, germanium and solid compounds gallium
arsenide (GaAs), indium antimonide (InSb), silicon
carbide (SiC)

Metallic Bonding
found in metals and their alloys
Valence electron are not bound to any particular atom
in the solid and or more or less free to drift thru out
the entire metal. They may be thought of as belonging
to the metal as a whole, or forming a sea of electrons or
an electron cloud. The remaining nonvalence
electrons and atomic nuclei form what are called ion
cores, which possess a net positive charge equal in
magnitude to the total valence electron charge per
atom

2.7 Secondary Bonding or Van der

Waals Bonding
Secondary bonding forces arise from atomic or

molecular dipoles. In essence, an electric dipole exists

whenever there is some separation of positive and
negtaive portions of an atom or molecule.

2.8 Molecules
Many of the common molecules are composed of

group of atoms that are bound together by strong

covalent bonds; these include elemental diatomic
molecules( F2,O2,H2) as well as a host of compounds
(H2O, CO2, HNO3, C6H6, CH4)