ATOMS: THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF MATTER

Chapter 3

Law of Conservation of Mass

Mass is neither destroyed or created during chemical reactions. Chemical compounds contain the same elements in exactly the same proportions regardless of size of the sample
Law

of definite proportions

The atomic model has changed throughout the centuries, starting in 400 BC, when it looked like a

billiard ball

Who are these men?

In this lesson, well learn about the men whose quests for knowledge about the fundamental nature of the universe helped define our views.

Democritus

400 BC

This is the Greek philosopher Democritus who began the search for a description of matter more than 2400 years ago.

He asked: Could matter be divided into smaller and smaller pieces forever, or was there a limit to the number of times a piece of matter could be divided?

Atomos

His theory: Matter could not be divided into smaller and smaller pieces forever, eventually the smallest possible piece would be obtained. This piece would be indivisible. He named the smallest piece of matter atomos, meaning not to be cut.

Atomos

To Democritus, atoms were small, hard particles that were all made of the same material but were different shapes and sizes. Atoms were infinite in number, always moving and capable of joining together.

This theory was ignored and forgotten for more than 2000 years!

Why?

The eminent philosophers of the time, Aristotle and Plato, had a more respected, (and ultimately wrong) theory.

Aristotle and Plato favored the earth, fire, air and water approach to the nature of matter. Their ideas held sway because of their eminence as philosophers. The atomos idea was buried for approximately 2000 years.

Daltons Model

In the early 1800s, the English Chemist John Dalton performed a number of experiments that eventually led to the acceptance of the idea of atoms.

Daltons Atomic Theory

All elements are composed of atoms. Atoms are invisible and indestructible particles.

continued...

Atoms of the same element are exactly alike.

continued...

Atoms of different elements are different.

continued...

Compounds are formed by the joining of atoms of two or more elements.

Was he right?

Daltons atomic theory of matter became one of the foundations of chemistry.

scientists had to modify the theory.

BUT it needed workother

Thomsons Plum Pudding Model

In 1897, the English scientist J.J. Thomson provided the first hint that an atom is made of even smaller particles.

Thomson Model

He proposed a model of the atom that is sometimes called the Plum Pudding model. Atoms were made from a positively charged substance with negatively charged electrons scattered about, like raisins in a pudding.

Thomson Model
Thomson studied the passage of an electric current through a gas. As the current passed through the gas, it gave off rays of negatively charged particles.

Thomson Model

This surprised Thomson, because the atoms of the gas were uncharged. Where had the negative charges come from?

Where did they come from?

Was Thomson Right?

Not reallythere are positively (+) and negatively (-) charged particles inside atoms.

BUT...

Thomson concluded that the negative charges came from within the atom.
A particle smaller than an atom had to exist. The atom was divisible! Thomson called the negatively charged corpuscles, today known as electrons. Since the gas was known to be neutral, having no charge, he reasoned that there must be positively charged particles in the atom. But he could never find them.

Rutherfords Gold Foil Experiment

In 1908, the English physicist Ernest Rutherford was hard at work on an experiment that seemed to have little to do with unraveling the mysteries of the atomic structure.

Rutherfords experiment Involved firing a stream of tiny positively charged particles at a thin sheet of gold foil (2000 atoms thick)

Most of the positively charged bullets passed right through the gold atoms in the sheet of gold foil without changing course at all. Some of the positively charged bullets, however, did bounce away from the gold sheet as if they had hit something solid. He knew that positive charges repel positive charges.

This could only mean that the gold atoms in the sheet were mostly open space. Atoms were not a pudding filled with a positively charged material. Rutherford concluded that an atom had a small, dense, positively charged center that repelled his positively charged bullets. He called the center of the atom the nucleus The nucleus is tiny compared to the atom as a whole.

Rutherfords Findings
Most of the particles passed right through A few particles were deflected VERY FEW were greatly deflected

Like howitzer shells bouncing off of tissue paper!

Conclusions:
a) The nucleus is small b) The nucleus is dense c) The nucleus is positively

charged

The Rutherford Atomic Model

Based on his experimental evidence: The atom is mostly empty space All the positive charge, and almost all the mass is concentrated in a small area in the center. He called this a nucleus The nucleus is composed of protons and neutrons (they make the nucleus!) The electrons distributed around the nucleus, and occupy most of the volume His model was called a nuclear model

So...
Particles are not spread out like plums in pudding Positive particles (protons) are

in the center (nucleus).

Where are the negative particles (electrons)?

Bohr Model

In 1913, the Danish scientist Niels Bohr proposed an improvement. In his model, he placed each electron in a specific energy

Bohr Model

According to Bohrs atomic model, electrons move in definite orbits around the nucleus, much like planets circle the sun. These orbits, or energy levels, are located at certain distances from the nucleus.

Are we there yet?

Bohrs model was used for a long time

BUT...

Modern Atomic Model

An atom has a small, positively charged nucleus surrounded by a in which there are enough electrons (-) to make the atom neutral (0).

large region

Wave Model

The Wave Model

Todays atomic model is based on the principles of wave mechanics. According to the theory of wave mechanics, electrons do not move about an atom in a definite path, like the planets around the sun.

The Wave Model

In fact, it is impossible to determine the exact location of an electron. The probable location of an electron is based on how much energy the electron has. According to the modern atomic model, at atom has a small positively charged nucleus surrounded by a large region in which there are enough electrons to make an atom neutral.

Electron Cloud:

A space in which electrons are likely to be found. Electrons whirl about the nucleus billions of times in one second They are not moving around in random patterns. Location of electrons depends upon how much energy the electron has.

Electron Cloud:

Depending on their energy they are locked into a certain area in the cloud. Electrons with the lowest energy are found in the energy level closest to the nucleus Electrons with the highest energy are found in the outermost energy levels, farther from the nucleus.

Indivisible Electron

Nucleus

Orbit

Electron Cloud

Greek Dalton Thomson Rutherford

X X X X X

Bohr
Wave

X
X

X
X

X
X

Modern Atomic Theory

Atoms are divisible into even smaller particles. A given element can have atoms with different masses. All matter is composed of atoms . Atoms of any one element differ in properties from atoms of another element remain unchanged.

Atom Structure

Smallest particle of an element that retains the chemical properties of that element Consist of two regions:
1.

Nucleus
Small region at center of atom which contains protons and neutrons

2.

Electron Cloud
Very

large region that contains electrons

Atomic Number
Atoms are composed of identical protons, neutrons, and electrons How then are atoms of one element different from another element? Elements are different because they contain different numbers of PROTONS The atomic number of an element is the number of protons in the nucleus # protons in an atom = # electrons

Mass Number
Mass number is the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an isotope: Mass # = p+ + n0

Nuclide
Oxygen - 18
Arsenic - 75 Phosphorus - 31

p+
8 33 15

n0
10
42 16

e- Mass #
8
18 75 31

33
15

Complete Symbols
Contain the symbol of the element, the mass number and the atomic number. Mass Superscript number

Subscript

Atomic number

Symbols

Find each of these: a) number of protons b) number of neutrons c) number of electrons d) Atomic number e) Mass Number

80 35

Br

Symbols

If an element has an atomic number of 34 and a mass number of 78, what is the: a) number of protons b) number of neutrons c) number of electrons d) complete symbol

Isotopes
Dalton was wrong about all elements of the same type being identical Atoms of the same element can have different numbers of neutrons. Thus, different mass numbers. These are called isotopes.

Isotopes

Frederick Soddy (1877-1956) proposed the idea of isotopes in 1912

Isotopes are atoms of the same element having different masses, due to varying numbers of neutrons.

Soddy won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1921 for his work with isotopes and radioactive materials.

Naming Isotopes

We can also put the mass number after the name of the element:
carbon-12 carbon-14 uranium-235

Isotopes are atoms of the same element having different masses, due to varying numbers of neutrons.
Isotope Protons Electrons Neutrons Nucleus

Hydrogen1 (protium) Hydrogen-2 (deuterium) Hydrogen-3 (tritium)

1 1 1

1 1 1

0 1 2