Chapter 11

The Atomic
Nature of
Matter

(where

Physic& Chemist
ry
s

collide...)

The Atomic Hypothesis

The idea of matter:

First thought by Aristotle to be a combination of

four elements earth, air, fire, and water

Thought to be composed of atoms by Greeks

from the fifth century BC.

The term 'atomos' was coined by Democritus. It

meant 'uncuttable' or 'the smallest indivisible
particle of matter'.

Is this still true today?

The Atomic Hypothesis

Further proposed as atoms in 1800s by

meteorologist and schoolteacher John Dalton.

In 1827, Robert Brown, a botanist, observed

collisions between visible particles and invisible
atoms (Brownian motion) later confirmed by
Albert Einstein as evidence for
the existence of atoms.

Characteristics of Atoms
Five main points of Dalton's atomic theory:
1. Elements are made of extremely small particles called atoms.
2. Atoms of a given element are identical in size, mass, and
other properties; atoms of different elements differ in size,
mass, and other properties.
3. Atoms cannot be subdivided, created, or destroyed.
4. Atoms of different elements combine in simple whole-number
ratios to form chemical compounds.
5. In chemical reactions, atoms are combined, separated, or
rearranged.

Atoms
All things are made of atomslittle particles
that move around in perpetual motion,
attracting each other when they are a little
distance apart, but repelling upon being
squeezed into one another.
Richard Feynman

Characteristics of Atoms
Characteristics of atoms:
1. Atoms are incredibly tiny Angstrom (10-10 m) scale.
2. Atoms are numerous Avogadro's number.
3. Atoms are perpetually in motion Brownian motion.
4. Atoms are ageless.

Atomic Imagery
Atoms are too small to be
seen with the naked human
eye.
The human eye will respond
to wavelengths about 390 to
700 nm this is the spectrum
of visible light.
These wavelengths are too
big to view the much smaller
size of a typical atom.

Atomic Imagery
How to view atoms...
So atoms must be viewed using something smaller
than the size of an atom electrons.
Atoms, as well as other small
objects may be viewed today
using electron microscopy.
To the right is one of the first
scanning electron micrograph
images showing chains of
individual thorium atoms.

Atomic Imagery
In the mid-1980s even better images of atoms came with
the advent of the scanning tunneling microscope.
The picture below shows an image of 48 iron atoms.

Atomic Structure

Atomic Structure

Atomic Imagery
Different kinds of electron microscopes:

SEM scanning electron microscope

STM scanning tunneling microscope

TEM transmission electron

microscope

STEM scanning transmission

electron microscope

Atomic Structure
The Atomic Structure is composed of:

an atomic nucleus
contains most of the atoms mass.
comprised of either positive or neutral nucleons
which all have the same mass.
Positive nucleons are called protons.
Neutral nucleons are called neutrons.

electrons
very small and very fast negatively charged
particles that orbit around the nucleus.
determine the atoms size.

The Elements
Simplified Model of the Atom

Atoms can be represented as having different layers or

shells where electrons reside.

The Elements
Elements

are pure substances composed of only one kind of atom.

The Elements
Focusing on Carbon
Carbon is a very common element that can take many
forms and is found in a lot of living things (or organic
matter.
Here are some common forms that carbon can take:

The Elements
Buckminsterfullerene or bucky balls
Bucky balls are 60 carbon atoms in a very
specific, geometric, spherical form.

They can also be taken

apart, flattened and turned
into different types of carbon
nanotubes!

The Periodic Table of Elements

Elements are classified by the number of protons in their

nucleus their atomic number.

The mass number is the total number of nucleons (protons

and neutrons) in an atoms nucleus.

The total mass of a single atom is called its atomic mass.

They are measured in atomic mass units or amu.
Element
name

Element
symbol

He

Atomic
mass

Helium
4.003

Atomic
number

4
2

H
e

Mass
number

The Periodic Table of Elements

Periodic Table of the Elements

The Periodic table is
a chart (chemists road map) of elements arranged
by atomic number.
classified by the number of protons in the nucleus.
arranged from left to right.
each having one more proton and electron than the
preceding element.
The elements on the far right have their outmost
electron shells filled to capacity and they are known
as the Noble gases.

Relative Sizes of Atoms

Relative Sizes of Atoms

Diameters of the outer electron shells:
are determined by the amount of electrical charge in the
nucleus.
gradually decrease from left to right across the periodic
table.
But the diameter increases from top to bottom down the
periodic table.

As nuclear charge increases and electrons are

added to outer orbits, the inner orbit shrinks.

Ions and Isotopes

An ion is a charged atom.

A positive ion has deficiency of electrons cation.

A negative ion has an excess of electrons anion.

The number of protons in nucleus matches the

number of electrons around nucleus for a electrically
stable atom, but not necessarily the number of
neutrons.

Example: Lithium (Li) has 3 electrons and 3 protons,

but 4 neutrons.

Isotopes
Isotopes:
Atoms of the same element with a different number of
neutrons.
Isotopes may show identical behavior to their original
element.
Identified by their mass number (total number of protons
and neutrons in the nucleus or number of nucleons).
Example: Iron isotope with 26 protons contain 30 neutrons.
Mass number is number 56, referred to as iron56.

Isotopes
Deuterium is an isotope of the element Hydrogen
with just one additional neutron.

It is used to make heavy water ,

D2O instead of H2O. Its extra
neutrons are used for cooling down
nuclear power plants.

Molecules
Molecules
Two or more atoms bonded together.
Example:
NH3 (ammonia)
3 atoms of hydrogen and 1 atom of nitrogen

Compounds and Mixtures

When atoms of different elements bond to one another,
they make a compound.
A compound is different from the elements from which it is
made.
It can only be separated into its constituent elements by
chemical means.
Example: Table salt a compound of
sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl).

NaCl

Compounds and Mixtures

Two or more substances that are mixed together without
chemically bonding is called a mixture.
Example: Air (a mixture of several gases)

Two or more substances that

are mixed together without
chemically bonding is called a
mixture.

Example:
Kool-Aid vs. Parfait

Antimatter
Matter
Composed of atoms with positive nuclei and negative
electrons.

Antimatter
Composed of atoms with negative nuclei and positive
electrons (positrons).
Positrons have the same mass as an electron
but are positively charged.
Anti-protons have the same mass as protons
but are negatively charged.

Antimatter
Antimatter
Both matter and antimatter cannot exist in our environment.
If matter and antimatter COLLIDE, only EQUAL amounts
will annihilate each other in a BLAST OF RADIANT
ENERGY!