Chapter Six The Structure of Atoms Everything that you see around you is made of tiny particles called atoms. Atoms are far too small to be seen. yet the Scientists have developed ideas about the structure of atoms indirectly through various experiments and observations. Different particles have different chararacterestics because they are built by different type of atoms which have different number of electrons, protons and neutrons. At the end of this chapter we will be able to — © explain the structure of the atom: explain the atomic number and mass number; explain what is isotope; explain the distribution of electrons in atoms; explain how ions are formed ; distinguish between cation and anion; formulate the chemical formula by using anion and cation; describe the use of isotope: appreciate the importance of isotopes in our life. Lesson1-3 : The evolution of the idea of atoms and their structure By now you have known that all materials are formed by tiny particles. These particles can stay in two forms-one is called atom which is the smallest particle and the other is molecule, where more than one atom form a stable structure. About the tiny particles different scientists and philosophers have expressed different opinions at different time. The Greek philosopher Democritus put forward for the first time in 400BC, the idea that all matters are formed of tiny particles. According to him these particles are indivisible, which cannot be divided further. He called it atom. The word atom was chosen from the Greck word atomos which means indivisible. Two of his contemporary philosophers Plato and Aristotle 20252025 The Structure of Atoms 59 expressed different opinions. According to Aristotle, matter is continuous and as such particles of matter can be divided into smaller and smaller parts with work limit. Based on experimental evidence, in 1803 the English scientists John Dalton said that the smallest particle of an element is an atom which cannot be divided any further. Dalton's idea got acceptance and the idea of Aristotle was rejected. In fact atoms are not indivisible and are not the smallest particles of matter. Atoms can be divided. Atoms consist of smaller particles which are electrons, protons and neutrons. To remove the limitations of the atomic concepts of Dalton, later others proposed alternate models of atom. Out of these models the most accepted atomic model is the model proposed by Rutherford and Bohr. Rutherford and his co-workers at one stage carried out an important experiment to find out the correct structure of the atom. From the results of the experiment, Rutherford arrived at the conclusion that the whole of the positive charge and mass is confined to a small area at the center of the atom. This is now called the nucleus. He also explained that most of the space in an atom is empty and the negative charge is carried by the electrons, which have negligible mass and revolves around the central positive charge. Rutherford- model is similar to the model of the solar system but he did not say anything definitely about the orbit of the electron. Niels Bohr (in 1913) put forward the idea that the negative charge carrying particles revolve in certain allowed orbits. From the above discussions, we can say that atoms are not indivisible. Atoms are formed by electrons, protons and the neutrons. At the centre of the atom there exists the nucleus. In the nucleus there are protons with positive charges and neutrons which are without charge. Most of the mass of the atom is concentrated at the nucleus. The space between the electrons and the nucleus is empty. In fact most of the space in the atom is void. Nocleus ® scram ore Fig. 6.1: Blectroa, Proton aad Neutron in Helium Atom60 Science Lesson 4-6 : Atomic number, mass number and isotopes Different elements have different types of atoms. For example, the atom of hydrogen is different from the atom of oxygen. The atom of one element is different from the atom of another element in respect of atomic size, atomic mass and characteristics. Why is this difference? The difference in behavior of atoms arises from the difference in the number of protons and electrons. We know in a normal atom the net charge is zero. Therefore, the number of electrons and the number of protons are the same. To explain the behaviour of an atom, the number of protons is usually used. The number of protons in the nucleus of an atom of an element is it’s atomic number. There is only one proton in the hydrogen atom, therefore the atomic number is 1. There are $ protons in an oxygen atom and its atomic number is 8. What information can you get from the atomic number? Carbon has atomic number 6. Since the atomic number indicates the number of protons in the atom of a particular element and the number of protons is equal to the number of electrons in each atom, we can understand that Carbon atom must have 6 electrons. Is if possible to know how many neutrons are there in an atom from its atomic number? No, it is not possible to know the number of neutrons in an atom from its atomic number. To know the number of neutrons in an atom one has to know the atomic number and the mass number of the atom. The mass of the electrons in an atom is negligible. Most of the mass of an atom is due to the mass of the nucleus. Again the mass of a proton is nearly equal to the mass of a neutron, ‘The mass number of an atom of an element is expressed as the total number of protons and neutrons in the atom. Thus the mass number of an element is equal to the number of protons in an atom of the element plus the number of neutrons in the atom. For exaniple, there are 8 protons and 8 neutrons in nucleus of an oxygen atom, therefore, the mass number of oxygen is 16. In the case of Sodium there are eleven protons and 12 neutrons. So the mass number of Sodium is 11 + 12=23. It has been discussed before that, ifthe atomic number and the mass number are known, the number of neutrons in the atom can be found out. You will see it clearly from the following example. Example: For an element A the atomic number is 17 and the mass number is 5. Find the number of protons and the number of neutrons in an atom of the element’? 20252025 ‘The Structure of Atoms $n Solution: The atomic number of element A is 17. Since the atomic number is equal to the number of protons the number of protons in the atom of the element is 17. Again the number of electrons in an atom is equal to the number of the protons. So the number of electrons is 17. In an atom the number of protons + the numbers of neutrons = mass number of an atom. ‘Therefore the number of neutrons in an atom of the element A= Mass number of the element A-the number of protons in the atom of element A Thus the number of neutron of an atom of element A= 35-17 = 18 Isotope: Already you have come to know that the atom of an element have definite number of proton and electron but an element may have different mass number. This is because the atoms of an element may have different number of neutrons. (0 Protium () Deuterium © Tritium Figure 6.2: Hydrogen isotope For example, every hydrogen atom has one electron and one proton. Most of hydrogen atoms (protium) have no neutrons. But some hydrogen atoms have one neutron. These atoms have mass number 2. Again some hydrogen atoms have two neutron and its mass number 3. These isotopes are shown in the fig. 6.2. In the same way the different atoms of an element which have the same number of protons and electrons but different mass number are called isotopes of that element. Most of the carbon atoms have 6 protons and 6 neutrons in their nuclei. But some atoms have 7 or 8 neutrons in their nuclei. Thus mainly carbon has three isotopes.2 Science Lesson7 and 8 : The properties and application of isotopes Since the number of protons and electrons in different isotopes of an element are the same, there is no difference in their electrical and chemical properties. This is because it is the distribution of electrons in the atom that are responsible for all the electrical and chemical properties. But the isotopes can be separated due to the difference in their masses. Usually a particular isotope of an element is more abundant because this isotope is more stable compared to other isotopes. The unstable isotopes radiate different radiations and particles due to radioactive decay. These are called radioactive isotopes. The properties of radioactive isotopes are used in different fields. Some of the uses of radioactive isotopes are described below: Medical uses of isotopes: Isotopes are used in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. If there is any defect in a narrow artery, it can be detected by sending radioactive isotope through the blood flowing in the artery. In the same way the affected cell of a cancer patient can be determined by sending radioactive isotopes. Again radioactive isotope can be used to destroy the cancer affected cells. Another use of radioactive materials is to use its radiation to sterilize medical instruments. Application in agriculture: In agriculture the radiation from isotopes are used to control insects. Also it can be used to find out what type of fertilizer and what amount of fertilizer is needed for a specific crop. Fig. 63: Toe use of idotuped in agriculture Food preservation: Germs and bacteria can be killed by the radiation from radioactive isotopes. Therefore radioactive isotopes can be used to make food and fruits free from germs. 20252025 The Structure of Atoms 8 Decaying of Bacteria Fig. 64: Use of rays from radioactive materials for bacteria free food. Use of Isotopes in geological research: You often have heard the news that fossils have been discovered which are many million years old. How do the scientists come to know the age of the fossils? It can be found out from the decay of the isotopes. From the ratio of the stable and unstable isotopes, it is possible to find out how old the fossil is. Lesson 9-11 : The way the electrons are distributed in an atom You have known that electrons revolve around the nucleus. The electron hasdefinite orbits. Now the question is how many electrons will stay in an orbit?Look at the diagram 6.2 which represents a hydrogen atom. In the hydrogen atom there is one electron in its orbit. In helium atom (Fig. 6.1) two electrons revolye around the nucleus in a single orbit. The rule by which the maximum numbers of electrons are distributed in the orbits is given by 2n? (here n= 1, 2,3 are the successive numbers of orbits). This is the rule for the allowed orbits. Some of these orbits can be filled and the rest can be empty. According to this a lithium atom has three electrons. Of these two electrons are in the first orbit and the third is in the second orbit. In the same way a carbon has six electrons, of which two are in the first orbit and the remaining four electrons are in the second orbit. According to the rule, the maximum number of allowed electrons in the first orbit is two, in the second orbit the number is eight. And in the third orbit the number is eighteen. These orbits are called energy levels, because each orbit corresponds to definite energy for the electron in it. Although the orbit is a path and energy level is a fixed value of energy, in general sence, these two terms refer to the orbit itself. : @) Fig. 6.5: Lithium atom Fig, 6.6; Carbon atom,om Science Now electron distribution of Sodium atom may be seen. There are eleven electrons in a sodium atom. How these electrons are distributed in different orbits? They must be in the order 2, 8, 1. This means in the first orbit there will be 2 electrons, in the second orbit there will be 8 electrons and in the third orbit there will be 1 electron. Fig. 6.7: Sodium atom In the above diagram we have shown the distribution of electrons which is easy to visualize. But to write down the distribution of electrons in a sodium atom, we can express it as 2, 8, 1. We have shown below the distribution of electrons in the first 18 elements. Starting from the lowest atomic number jement ‘Atomic Number | Symbol | Electronic configaration Hydrogen 1 Helium 2 Lithium 3 Li 21 Beryllium 4 Boron 3 Carbon 6 Nitrogen 7 N 2,5 Oxygen 8 Fluorine 9 Neon 10 Sodium in Na 2.8, 1 Magnesium RD Aluminium 1B Silicon 14 Phosphorus 5 Sulphur 16 Chlorine Vv a 2.8,7 Argon 18 2025The Structure of Atoms s Lesson 12-13; The electron distribution and properties of elements The properties of elements are basically determined by the electron distribution in their orbits. Generally atoms become active or inactive or charged due to diffeence in electron distribution. If the last orbit has all the electrons that are allowed in that energy level, then that orbit is completely filled. This type of atoms is inert. For examples, there are two electrons in a helium atom. The first orbit is allowed to have two electrons. Therefore the helium atom is inert and stable. Every atom tends to go to such a stable state. If the number of electrons in the last orbit or the highest state is such that it can complete it either by borrowing electrons or losing electrons, it will tend to do so. This is because, when the outermost orbit is complete, the negative charge of the electrons shield the equal number of protons in the nucleus. This reduces the energy of the system and the atom becomes more stable. This redistribution of the outer electron takes place by sharing the electron with the neighbouring atoms. For example consider the case of Sodium atom, it has 2 electrons in the first orbit, 8 electrons in the second orbit and 1 electron in the third orbit. Is it a maximum stable state? Surely not. If the sodium atom can lose the single electron in the third orbit, its outer most second orbit becomes full and the atom will become stable. The sodium atom will easily lose one electron from the third orbit if some neigh- bouring atom has the tendency to grab an electron to fill its outermost orbit. But when the sodium atom lose one electron it is no longer charge neutral. Normal sodium atom is charge neutral, because it has the same number of protons in the nucleus as the number of electrons in the orbits. By losing one electron the sodium atom becomes positively charged. This charged atom is called an ion. If the charge is positive it is called cation. Thus sodium atom by losing an electron becomes anion. Now let us take another example. Florin atom has electron distribution as 2,7.1s it a maximum stable state? Surely not. For stability it needs 8 electrons in the outermost orbit. It can either lose 7 electrons from the second orbit or can grabs one extra electron to complete the second orbit. From the energy consideration it is far more favourable to snatch one extra electron to complete the second orbit. In the vicinity of sodium atoms it can easily take one electron from the sodium atom. After receiving one electron from outside the florine atom becomes negatively charged. This makes it a negatively charged ion. It is called anion. Forma-9- Science, Class-86 Science Thus by receiving or losing electron, atoms become ionized. Of the two atoms, the one which lose electron becomes cation. The atom which grabs electron becomes anion or negatively charged ion. As a result an attractive force works between these oppositely charged ions. If two opositely charged ions come closer to each other, they form a bond. In this way atoms of elements form molecules of compounds. You will know more about in higher classes. Na ——————> Nate F+e- ——__» FE Na+F 9 ———}>_ Na’ Fo NaF What we have learned at the end of this chapter- - Atoms are not indivisible. Atoms are formed by elecirons, protons and neutrons. - At the center of the atom there is the nucleus. In the nucleus there are positively charged protons and charge free neutrons. Most of the mass of an atom is in the nucleus. - Negatively charged electron revolves in definite orbits or shells with the nucleus at the centre. The space between the electrons and the nucleus is empty. In fact most of the space in an atom is empty. - The first orbit can have maximum of 2 electrons, the second orbit can have maximum 8 electrons and the highest number of electrons for the third orbit is 18. These orbits are also called energy levels. - Ifthe highest orbit has the number of electrons which is the maximum number allowed, then the orbit is completely full. Such atoms are inert. - Atoms become comparatively stable and ionized by receiving or losing electrons. Exercise Fill in the blanks According to the opinion of atoms are indivisible. Most of the mass of the atom is in the Most of the space of the atomis_ The number of in an atom is called the atomic number. The number of protons in the isotopes of an element is po pe ome 20252025 The Structure of Atoms oT Short Answers Question 1. Describe and show with diagram the positions in an atom where electrons, protons and neutrons are located. 2. The atomic number of Nitrogen is 7. Show with diagram the distribution of electrons in a Nitrogen atom. 3. Discuss the application of isotopes in Medical treatments and Agriculture. 4. Explain with examples how cation and anions are formed. Multiple Choice Questions 1. How many electrons can stay in the second orbit of an atom ? a 2 b. 8 c. 18 d. 32 2. It can be concluded from the experiment of Rutherford that— i. atoms are indivisible. ii, atoms can be divided. iii, most of the space in an atom is empty. Which of the following is correct? aii b. itt c. i &iii da. ii &iii After reading the sentence below, give answers to questions no. 3 and 4. In an atom of an element there are 10 proton and 8 neutrons . 3. What is the mass number of the atom? a. 10 b. 16 c. 18 d, 26 4. Which element is this ? a. Oxygen b. Sulphur ce. Sodium d. Neon68 Science Creative Questions 1. The atomic number of atom X is 11. On the other hand the atomic number of atom Y is 17 and the number of neutron in the atom is 18. a. b. & How many isotopes of Carbon are there? What is meant by cation? What is the mass number of atom Y? .. Show the distribution of electrons in X and Y atoms and explain their ability to form bond between them ? Fig-1 Fig-2 What is meant by the word atom? . What is meant, when it is said that the atomic number of oxygen is 8? . Explain whether the Fig-1 of stimulus is active or inactive. Give a comparative description of the atomic structure of the number 1 and number 2 atoms. 2025