1. Define atoms and molecules.

Atoms: The smallest particle of an element, which may or may not have an independent existence
but always takes place in a chemical reaction is called an atom. An atom is defined as the smallest
unit that retains the properties of an element. An atom is composed of sub-atomic particles:
electrons, protons and neutrons. All atoms of the same element are identical and different elements
have different types of atoms.
Examples of atoms are Sulphur atom (S), Chlorine Atom (Cl), etc.

Molecules: A molecule is a chemically bonded group of two or more atoms. When a molecule is
broken down, it shows the features of the elements it is constituted of.
Examples of molecules are water molecule (H2O), noitrogen molecule (N2), etc.

2. Can atoms exist independently?

Atoms can exist independently in case of noble gases. Noble gases either have 2 or 8 electrons in
their valence shell so they are stable and can exist independently.

3. Compare between electrons, protons and neutrons.

Electrons Protons Neutrons

Charge Electrons are negatively Protons are positively Neutrons are neutral
charged particles. charged particles. particles which mean
that they have no charge.
Mass They have a mass of They have a mass of They have a mass of
9.1×10−31kg. 1.67×10−27kg. 1.67×10−27kg.
Location Shells or orbits Nucleus Nucleus
Representation e- p+ n
Scientist J. J. Thomson Ernest Rutherford James Chadwick

4. What is nuclues?

Each atom consists of a solid mass that is present in the center of the atom known as the nucleus of
the atom. Each nucleus within the atom consists of positively charged particles i.de. the protons
along with the neutral particles i.e. the neutrons. These both i.e. the protons and the neutrons are
collectively responsible for the mass of the nucleus.

PS: Draw diagram of atom. Chose any atom like carbon or oxygen atom.

5. What is an orbit or shell in an atom?

Orbit is a well-defined imaginary circular path around the nucleus in which electrons revolve
around the nucleus. It is also called a shell.

PS: Diagram required

6. Which subatomic particle takes part in chemical reaction and why?

Electrons take part in chemical reactions. Protons are static within the nucleus whereas the
outermost valence electrons are held very loosely. They can easily move around from one atom to
another. Hence electrons take part in chemical reactions and not protons.

7. What are nucleons?

Nucelons are the subatomic particles ie protons and neutrons that are present inside the nucleus.

8. What do you mean by valence and bound electrons?

Valence electrons are the electrons in the outermost shell of an atom. Example: In case of Oxygen
atom, there are 6 valence electrons in it’s L shell.
As nucleus is positively charged it strongly attracts the negative charged electrons. The electron
orbit close to the nucleus are tightly bound by strong attractive force of nucleus. These electrons are
known as bound electrons.

9. Why are noble gases stable not reactive?

Noble gases have a stable configuration as they have either 2 or electrons in their valence shell.
Since they are already stable, they are not reactive.

10. What do you mean by atomicity?

The number of atoms present in a molecule of an element is called its atomicity.

Monoatomic (1): Noble gases. Eg: Argon, Neon
Diatomic (2): Oxygen, Hyderogen, Nitrogen
Triatomic (3): Ozone
Polyatomic: Atomicity more than 3. Eg: Phosphorous (4), Sulphur (8)

Structutre of molecules such as Carbon, Gold, silver, etc are complex and they can have a large no
of atoms in a single molecule. For simplicity, we assume their atomicity to be 1.

11. What is atomic number?

The number of protons in the atom of an element is called the atomic number of the element.
It is represented with the letter ‘Z.’ All the atoms of a particular element have the same number of
protons, and hence the same atomic number. Atoms of different elements have different atomic
numbers.
For example - The atomic number of sodium (Na) is 11 as it has 11 protons in the nucleus of its
atom.

PS: Define atomic number in terms of protons and not electrons. Also, try to memorize the first 20
elements of periodic table.

12. What is mass number?

The number of protons and neutrons combine to give us the mass number of an atom. It is
represented using the letter ‘A.’ As both protons and neutrons are present in the nucleus of an atom,
they are together called nucleons. For example, an atom of carbon has 6 protons and 6 neutrons.
Thus, its mass number is 12. While the number of protons remains the same in all atoms of an
element, the number of neutrons can vary. Thus, atoms of the same element can have different mass
numbers, and these are called isotopes. The weight of an electron is almost negligible. Thus, the
atomic mass of an atom is almost the same as its mass number.

13. What do you mean by atomic mass unit or amu?

An atomic mass unit is defined as accurately 1/12 the mass of a carbon-12 atom. The carbon-12
atom has six neutrons and six protons in its nucleus. It is represented as a.m.u. It is a unit of mass
used to express atomic masses.

14. What are alpha particles?

Alpha particle is positively charged particle that consists of two protons and two neutrons bound
together. It is emitted by an atomic nucleus undergoing radioactive decay and is identical to the
nucleus of a helium atom.

15. Why is an atom considered to be electrically stable?

An electron has equal number of electrons and protons. So the net charge of an atom is 0. Hence it
is considered to be electrically stable.

16. State the main assumptions of Dalton’s atomic theory of matter.

(a) Matter consists of very small and indivisible particles called atoms.

(b) Atoms can neither be created nor be destroyed.

(c) The atoms of an element are identical in all respects,i.e.size,mass,density,chemical properties,but

they differ from the atoms of other elements.

(d) Atoms of an element combine in small numbers to form molecules of that element.

(e) Atoms of an element combine with the atoms of another element in a simple whole number ratio
to form molecules of compound.

17. State the observations made by Rutherford in bombarding gold foil with alpha particles.

The observations made by Rutherford led him to conclude that:

1. A major fraction of the α-particles bombarded towards the gold sheet passed through the
sheet without any deflection, and hence most of the space in an atom is empty.
2. Some of the α-particles were deflected by the gold sheet by very small angles, and hence the
positive charge in an atom is not uniformly distributed. The positive charge in an atom is
concentrated in a very small volume.
3. Very few of the α-particles were deflected back, that is only a few α-particles had nearly
180o angle of deflection. So the volume occupied by the positively charged particles in an
atom is very small as compared to the total volume of an atom.
[PS: Go by whatever your teacher has taught you. Better to follow your book for this
answer]
18. What do you mean by isotopes and isobars?

Isotopes are the atoms in which the number of neutrons differs and the number of protons is the
same. From the above definition of atomic mass and the atomic number, we can conclude that
isotopes are those elements having the same atomic number and different mass numbers. There are
three isotopes of hydrogen and these are protium, deuterium, and tritium. All three of them have the
same number of protons, but the numbers of neutrons differ. In protium the number of neutrons is
zero, in deuterium, it is one and in tritium, the number of neutrons is two.

Isobars are atoms of different chemical elements which differs in the chemical property but has the
same physical property. So, we can say that isobars are those elements which have a different
atomic number but the same mass number. The example of two Isotopes and Isobars is iron and
nikel. Both have the same mass number which is 58 whereas the atomic number of iron is 26, and
the atomic number of nickel is 28.

19. What do you mean by valence shell?

The outermost shell or orbital of an atom is called its valence shell. The electrons in these shells
take part in bonding with other atoms.

20. Describe the structure of an atom.

An atom is composed of three particles, proton, neutron and electron. The proton is considered
positively charged, while the electron is considered negatively charged. The neutron has no charge.
The atom has a very dense centre called the nucleus which comprises the positively charged protons
and massively dense neutrons.
The atom also comprises a negatively charged cloud which comprises the electrons orbiting around
the nucleus. The centripetal force required to keep a body in circular motion is entirely provided by
the electrostatic force of attraction between the proton and the electron.
Different atoms contain different amounts of proton, neutron and electron in varying numbers. In
fact, the amount of proton possessed by an atom determines the element of the atom hence the
chemical and physical properties. Equal number of electrons and protons are contained within a
neutral atom since proton and neutron have the same charge.

[PS: You can prepeare this answer from your book as well.]

PS: Diagram is must.

21. Explain Rutherfords Gold foil experiment.

Gold-foil experiment:

1. The gold foil experiment was designed by Rutherford.

2. In his experiment, the α particles were made to come down on a thin gold foil.
3. Alpha particles α are made up of two protons and two neutrons tightly bound together which is
identical to Helium-4.
4. Many of the α particles passed linearly through the gold foil.
5. Some of the particles deviated at small angles.
6. One out of every 1200 particles appeared to bounce.

22. What are the limitations of Rutherfords model of atom?

1. His model failed to explain the stability of atoms.
2. The arrangement of electrons in a circular path was not defined.
3. Any particle that is moving in a circular path would undergo acceleration and radiates energy.
Thus, the revolving electron would lose energy and finally fall into the nucleus.

23. What are the limitations of Dalton's atomic theory?

1. The indivisibility of an atom was proved wrong: an atom can be further subdivided into protons,
neutrons and electrons. However an atom is the smallest particle that takes part in chemical
reactions.

2. According to Dalton, the atoms of same element are similar in all respects. However, atoms of
some elements vary in their masses and densities. These atoms of different masses are called
isotopes. For example, chlorine has two isotopes with mass numbers 35 and 37.

3. Dalton also claimed that atoms of different elements are different in all respects. This has been
proven wrong in certain cases: argon and calcium atoms each have an atomic mass of 40 amu.
These atoms are known as isobars.