SECTION 3.

The Structure of
the Atom
The atomic theory proposed by John Dalton stated that atoms Key Terms
are indivisible. This idea was proven incorrect by the end of
atom nuclear forces
the nineteenth century. It became clear that atoms are actually
composed of several basic types of particles. The number and
arrangement of these particles determine the properties of
the atom.
The atom is now defined as the smallest particle of
an element that retains the chemical properties of the
element. Atoms consist of two regions. Each region contains
different types of particles, called subatomic particles.
• The nucleus is a very small region located at the center of
the atom. The nucleus includes at least one positively
charged particle called a proton and usually one or more READING CHECK
neutral particles called neutrons. 1. Draw a model showing the two
regions of an atom in the space
• Surrounding the nucleus is a much larger region that below. Label the nucleus and the
contains negatively charged particles called electrons. electron region.

Atoms contain positive and negative particles.

The electron was the first subatomic particle to be discovered.

In the late 1800s, many experiments were performed in
which electric current was passed through various gases. A
gas with the same pressure as the air at Earth’s surface is a
poor conductor of electricity. For that reason, the scientists
made sure to keep the gases in their experiments at very
low pressures.
For their experiments, scientists made glass tubes called
cathode-ray tubes, and filled them with low-pressure gas. Metal
disks were placed on either side of the tube. One disk, the
cathode, was given a positive charge. The other disk, the
anode, was given a negative charge.

68 CHAPTER 3
Cathode Rays and Electrons
Scientists discovered that the surface of a Voltage source
cathode-ray tube glowed when electric current
was passed through the tube. They hypothesized Gas at low pressure Cathode ray

that the glow was caused by a stream of particles,

called a cathode ray, that traveled from the cathode - +
to the anode. They also found that cathode rays
could be deflected by a magnet or away from a Cathode Anode
negatively charged object. This led to the (metal disk) (metal disk)

hypothesis that the particles in a cathode ray are (a)

negatively charged.
Experiments carried out by English physicist
Joseph John Thomson in 1897 supported this
hypothesis. He was able to calculate the ratio of
the charge of the particles to the mass of the
particles in a cathode ray. He found that this ratio Cathode Anode
was the same, no matter what metals were used in
the cathode and anode. The ratio also stayed the
same if the gas in the tube changed. (b)

Thomson concluded that all cathode rays are (a) A simple cathode-ray tube. (b) A magnet above
a cathode-ray tube deflects the beam downward,
composed of identical negatively charged particles
showing that the particles in the beam must have a
called electrons. The atoms in the cathode-ray negative charge.
experiments above were releasing electrons. This was
evidence that atoms are divisible and that electrons
are present in different types of atoms.

Charge and Mass of the Electron

Thomson’s experiments also revealed that the electron has CONNECT
a very large charge-to-mass ratio. In 1909, the American
Today, experiments have deter-
physicist Robert A. Millikan was able to measure the mined that the electron has a mass
charge of the electron. Scientists used this information to of 9.109 × 1​0–31
​ ​kg. This is 1/1837
determine the mass of an electron. They found that an the mass of the smallest type of
hydrogen atom.
electron has about one two-thousandth the mass of the
smallest known atom.
Thomson proposed a plum pudding model to explain the READING CHECK
properties of the atom known at the time. Because atoms 2. Sketch the plum pudding model
are electrically neutral, he proposed that the electrons were proposed by Thomson. Label the
balanced by a “pudding” of positive charge. The electrons electrons and the region of
positive charge.
were embedded within this positively-charged material. The
region of positive charge was also thought to contain most of
the mass of the atom, since the electron has so little mass.

AT O M S : T H E B U I L D I N G B L O C K S O F M AT T E R 69
 Screen to detect
deflected
particles

Thin gold
foil

Lead box containing radioactive Particles

source of fast-moving particles deflected by foil
(a) (b)

Atoms have small, dense, positively-charged nuclei. (a) Geiger and Marsden bombarded a
thin piece of gold foil with a beam of
alpha particles. (b) Some of the
More detail of the structure of atoms was discovered by New
particles were deflected back toward
Zealander Ernest Rutherford and his associates Hans Geiger their source.
and Ernest Marsden. They bombarded a piece of gold foil
with fast-moving alpha particles, which are positively charged
particles with four times the mass of a hydrogen atom. They
expected the beam to pass through the foil with a very slight
deflection because the mass and charge were evenly
distributed in the gold foil. They were surprised when about
1 in 8000 particles deflected backwards toward the source.
Rutherford hypothesized that small, densely
packed bundles of matter with a positive charge must
have caused the backwards deflections. The bundles
had to be small because so few of the particles
bounced backwards. Rutherford used the term
nucleus to describe each bundle of matter.
Small deflection
Rutherford had discovered that the
volume of the nucleus was very small
compared to the total volume of an Beam of
positive
Electrons surround
atom. The source of the positive particles Nucleus nucleus
charge of an atom had been Large deflection

discovered. Rutherford’s student,

Niels Bohr, later discovered the
location of the electrons in an atom.

READING CHECK Most particles passed through the

gold foil undisturbed. A small number
3. What is the nucleus of an atom? were deflected by the nucleus.

70 CHAPTER 3
 A nucleus contains protons and neutrons.

With one exception, all atomic nuclei are made of two kinds of
TIP Many words derived from
particles, protons and neutrons. A proton has a positive charge Latin that end with -us
equal in magnitude to the negative charge of an electron. form plurals by changing the
ending to -i. Thus, the plural of
Atoms are electrically neutral because they contain equal nucleus is nuclei and the plural of
numbers of protons and electrons. A neutron has no charge, radius is radii.
and, like an atom, is electrically neutral.
The one atomic nucleus that lacks a neutron is that of the
simplest hydrogen atom. Its nucleus is a single proton with
a single electron moving around it. A proton has a mass of
1.673 × 1​0–27
​ ​kg, which is 1836 times greater than the mass of
an electron. Therefore, a proton has nearly all of the mass in
the simplest hydrogen atom. The mass of a neutron is
1.675 × 1​0–27
​ ​kg, which is slightly larger than the mass of
a proton.
The nuclei of atoms of different elements differ in the
number of protons they possess. Therefore, the number of
protons determines an atom’s identity. For every proton
an atom has in its nucleus, the same number of electrons
surrounds the nucleus. Physicists have discovered other
subatomic particles, but they have little effect on the chemical
properties of matter. The properties of electrons, protons, and
neutrons, are summarized in the table below.

READING CHECK

4. What quantity determines the identity of an atom?

Properties of Subatomic Particles

Relative
electric Mass Relative
Particle Symbols charge number mass (u*) Actual mass (kg)

Electron e​ ​−​, ​ −10 ​e -1 0 0.000 5486 9.109 × 1​0​−31​

Proton ​ ​, ​11​H
​p+ +1 1 1.007 276 1.673 × 1​0​−27​

Neutron n°, ​10​n 0 1 1.008 665 1.675 × 1​0​−27​

*1 u (unified atomic mass unit) = 1.660 540 × 1​0−27

​ ​kg

AT O M S : T H E B U I L D I N G B L O C K S O F M AT T E R 71
Forces in the Nucleus
Generally, particles that have the same electric charge repel CONNECT
one another. Therefore, you might expect a nucleus with more
In physics, there are four known
than one proton in it to be unstable. However, a force exists fundamental forces that describe
between two protons that overcomes the electric force trying how matter interacts. These forces
to push them apart. This force only acts when two protons are are the electromagnetic force, the
gravitational force, the strong
very close to one another.
nuclear force, and the weak
A similar force acts when two neutrons are very close nuclear force.
together, or when a neutron and a proton are very close
together. Together, these short-range proton-proton,
neutron-neutron, and proton-neutron forces are called nuclear
forces. These forces allow atoms with up to 83 positively-
charged protons in the same nucleus to be stable.

The radii of atoms are expressed in picometers.

Because the nucleus is so small, the size of an atom is

determined by the size of the region in which electrons are
present. This region is sometimes thought of as an electron
cloud—a cloud of negative charge. The radius of an atom is
the distance from the center of the nucleus to the outer edge
of the electron cloud.
Because atomic radii are so small, they are expressed in a
unit that is more convenient for the sizes of atoms. This unit is
called the picometer. Another unit, called the unified atomic
mass unit, or u, is used to express the mass of atoms.
1 pm = 1​0–12
​ ​m = 1​0–10
​ ​cm
1 u = 1.660 540 × 1​0–27
​ ​kg
To get an idea of how small a picometer is, consider that
1 cm is the same fractional part of 1000 km (about 600 mi) as
100 pm is of 1 cm. Atomic radii range from 40 pm to 270 pm
across. Atomic nuclei have a much smaller radius, about
0.001 pm. Atomic nuclei are also incredibly dense, with a
density of about 2 × 1​014
​ ​g/c​m3​ ​.

Critical Thinking
5. Calculate Verify the value for the density of an
atomic nucleus given above for a spherical atom
with a mass of 1 u. Recall that the volume of a
4 ​π​r​ 3​.
sphere is given by V = ​ __
3
72 CHAPTER 3
 SECTION 3.2 REVIEW
VOCABULARY
1. Define each of the following:

a. atom

b. neutron

REVIEW
2. Describe one conclusion made by each scientist that led to the development
of the current atomic theory.

a. Thomson

b. Millikan

c. Rutherford

3. Compare the three subatomic particles in terms of location in the atom,

mass, and relative charge.

4. Why is the cathode-ray tube shown earlier in this section connected to a

vacuum pump?

Critical Thinking
5. EVALUATING IDEAS Nuclear forces are said to hold protons and neutrons
together. What is it about the composition of the nucleus that requires the
concept of nuclear forces?

AT O M S : T H E B U I L D I N G B L O C K S O F M AT T E R 73