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Physics
Topic 7.1 The Atom
Atomic structure
Atomic Structure
John Dalton said that atoms were
tiny indivisible spheres, but in
1897 J. J. Thomson discovered
that all matter contains tiny
negativelycharged particles.
He showed that these particles
are smaller than an atom.
He had found the first subatomic
particle the electron.
Energy Levels
Thomas Melville was the first to study
the light emitted by various gases.
He used a flame as a heat source, and
passed the light emitted through a prism.
Melvill discovered that the pattern
produced by light from heated gases is
very different from the continuous
rainbow pattern produced when sunlight
passes through a prism.
Emission Spectra
Absorption Spectra
Evidence
What causes line spectra?
You always get line spectra from
atoms that have been excited in
some way, either by heating or by
an electrical discharge.
In the atoms, the energy has
been given to the electrons,
which then release it as light.
Nuclear Structure
Mass Number
The total number of protons and
neutrons in the nucleus is
called the mass number (or
nucleon number).
Nucleon
Protons and neutrons are called
nucleons.
Each is about 1800 times more
massive than an electron, so
virtually all of an atom's mass is
in its nucleus.
Atomic Number
All materials are made from about 100
basic substances called elements.
An atom is the smallest `piece' of an
element you can have.
Each element has a different number of
protons in its atoms:
it has a different atomic number
(sometimes called the proton
number).
The atomic number also tells you the
number of electrons in the atom.
Isotopes
Every atom of oxygen has a proton
number of 8. That is, it has 8
protons (and so 8 electrons to
make it a neutral atom).
Most oxygen atoms have a nucleon
number of 16.
This means that these atoms also
have 8 neutrons.
This is 168O.
16
Interactions in the
Nucleus