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CSEC Physics - The Atom

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The Atom

Thursday, 19 January 2023 8:57 AM

The atom is defined as an indivisible component which remains


after a substance is broken into its smallest prats

Theories of Atomic Structure


Thomas Dalton: Billiard Ball Model

Atom are whole particles and cannot be broken up further

Joseph Thomson: Plum Pudding Model

Atoms consist of tiny concentrated negative charges floating in


a positive cloud.

Ernest Rutherford: Planetary Model

Used the Geiger-Marsden experiment to explain his theory:

Nuclear Physics Page 1


Positive particles are used to bombard gold foil. It is expected from
Thomson's model that the positive particles will pass straight
through the foil and most do, however some are deflected at large
angles and some back toward the source, So Rutherford
concludes that the atom must have a small, dense, positive
nucleus with negative charges orbiting. The orbits are elliptical
and only one electron per orbit

James Chadwick: The Neutron

Chadwick bombarded a block of paraffin wax with rays produced


by Beryllium and found that protons were knocked out. The rays
produced by the Beryllium element had no charge (unaffected by
magnetic or electric fields)

Now recall from the p.c.m., when 2 objects A and B collide, if the
mass of A = mass of B then for A travelling at speed 'v' and B
initially stationary, then after the collision B moves off with
speed 'v' and A is stationary.

Since the rays of no charge did not pass through the paraffin
but rather knocked out protons at the same speed as the rays,
Chadwick concluded that there must exist a particle within the
nucleus of no charge he called the neutron

Niels Bohr: The Shell Model

Nuclear Physics Page 2


• Circular orbits of electrons
• Each orbit has an associated electron level
• Can contain pairs of electrons
• Are called shells

Structure of the Atom


• Made up of 3 particles
○ Protons
○ Neutrons
○ Electrons

• Charges
○ Robert Millikan determined that
▪ Charge of an e- is approximately -1.6 * 10-19C
○ The simplest atom, H, has 1e-, 1p+ and 1n
▪ Atom is neutral
▪ Charge of proton is therefore 1.6 * 10-19C
○ This is known as the elementary charge
○ The charge Q on any object is given as Q ± ne
▪ N is a whole number
Particle Charge
e- -e
p+ +e
n 0

• Masses
○ Charge to mass ratio (e/m) from Thomson's experiment:
▪ 2 * 1011 CKg-1
▪ Accepted value today is 1.76 * 1011 CKg-1
○ Accepted mass values of 3 subatomic particles are given

Nuclear Physics Page 3


○ Accepted mass values of 3 subatomic particles are given
in kg or in unified atomic mass units (u)
▪ 1 u = 1.6605 * 10-27kg

Particle Mass/kg Mass/u Mass/u (to


nearest whole
number)
electron 9.1094*1031 0.00054858 0
proton 1.67262*10-27 1.007276 1
neutron 1.67493*10-27 1.008665 1

Stability of the Atom


• 2 types of particles within nucleus
○ Protons & neutrons
• Called nucleons
• Size is exaggerated in diagrams to show them

Stability of Nucleus
• In hydrogen atom, nucleus consists of 1 proton
○ Electron orbits
• Next simplest atom is He
• Has 2 protons
○ Have alike charges and would repel
○ Neutrons prevent from flying apart
○ Hold the protons together
• Force keeping particles together called strong nuclear force
• Acts only within the nucleus
• Nucleus of different elements made up of different amounts
of protons and neutrons
• Proton number, Z, is called atomic number
• Number of neutrons, N, can be the same in different
elements
• An equal number of protons and neutrons results in stable
nuclei
• Mass number or nucleon number, A = Z+N

Nuclear Physics Page 4


Stable Energy States Among the Orbiting Electrons
• Electrostatic forces are the second most powerful forces in
nature, second to nuclear forces
• Positive and negative charges attract each other
○ Results in net zero charge on most objects
• Atoms in their normal state are electrically neutral
○ Has equal electrons and protons

Isotopes
• Elements with the same atomic number but different mass
numbers
○ i.e. different numbers of neutrons
• Some elements are indistinguishable from their isotopes
• Some elements have several isotopes
• Nuclides of some are radioactive
• Nuclei of carbon-14 give off beta particles
• Carbon-12 atoms are stable

Nuclear Physics Page 5

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