CHAPTER II: Primary constituents of matter

I. Introduction

1. Mass conservation law:

Lavoisier, after conducting many experiments on
chemical reactions, noted that

m (reactives ‫ = ) متفاعالت‬m (products ‫) نواتج‬ Antoine Lavoisier

During a chemical reaction (1743-1794) is
considered the
founder of
modern chemistry

Lavoisier formulated then his famous law:

Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed.
2. the smallest constituent of the atom
 II. Experiments that emerged in the 19th century

Two physical phenomena known

for thousands of years

Magnetism Electricity

The torpedo: an electric fish that can weigh up to

90 kg and deliver electric shocks of 60 to 230 volts
and exceeding 30 amps.
 1. Discovery of the electron using cathode rays

The discovery of the electron was made possible by understanding the nature of cathode
rays

Voltage difference = 50000 volts

Cathode

Anode

Vacuum pump
Rayons cathodiques

Cathode-ray tube
 a. Experience of Crookes using a cathode-ray tube:

William Crookes, an English physicist, discovered cathode rays in 1879. He found that these
rays could pass through a vacuum and produce a glow on a fluorescent screen. Crookes
initially thought that cathode rays were electromagnetic waves, but he later hypothesized
that they were particles.
He later showed that these particles are electrically charged because they are deflected by
the magnetic field of a magnet.
b. Experience of J.J.Thomson (1897)
English physicist Joseph John Thomson announced the
discovery of the electron on April 30, 1897.
The discovery of the electron showed that atoms are not
indivisible, but are made up of smaller particles.

By studying the behavior of cathode rays, he concluded that the light rays in the
cathode ray tube are composed of electrons, which are particles of matter with a
negative electrical charge. He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1906.

Thomson’s device
 Thomson’s atomic model « The plum pudding »

Postulates of Thomson’s atomic model

Postulate 1: An atom consists of a positively charged sphere with electrons embedded in it
Postulate 2: An atom as a whole is electrically neutral because the negative and positive
charges are equal in magnitude

However, Thomson's model had significant limitations, which led to its replacement by
Rutherford's atomic model in 1911. These limitations are as follows:
• It cannot explain the stability of the atom, as it cannot explain how the positive charge of
the nucleus holds the negatively charged electrons in place.
• It cannot explain the scattering of alpha particles by thin metal foils, which was observed
experimentally by Rutherford.
• It is not supported by strong experimental evidence.
c. Millikan's oil drop experiment (1909)

It was not until 1909 that the American physicist Robert MILLIKAN was able to determine
the charge of the electron by observing how an oil drop charged with electricity falls in the
presence and absence of an electric field in a series of ingenious experiments.

Robert MILLIKAN
(1868-1953)

e = 1,602 1019 Coulomb. Et comme

Donc:
me = 9,109  1031 kg,
 2. Discovery of the nucleus: Rutherford 1911 (lacunar aspect of the atom(
)‫)المظهر الفراغي للذرة‬
The gold foil experiment (also called the Rutherford experiment) was an
experiment done by Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden in 1909, under the
direction of Ernest Rutherford at the Physical Laboratories of the University of
Manchester. They measured the deflection of alpha particles (helium ions with
a positive charge) directed normally onto a very thin gold foil.
They observed that a very small percentage of particles were deflected
through angles much larger than 90 degrees; some were even scattered back
toward the source.
 RUTHERFORD'S PLANETARY MODEL
In 1911, Ernest Rutherford proposed his atomic model, called the Rutherford planetary
model. This model was based on his experiments that showed that the atom is mostly
empty space with a small, dense nucleus, comparable to the solar system.

In fact, most of the mass of an atom (99.95% or more) is concentrated in a positively

charged center, or nucleus, around which negatively charged electrons orbit. Nuclei have
a diameter of about 10-15 meters, while atomic diameters are about 10-10 meters, a
hundred thousand times larger.
 3. Proton discovery: Rutherford 1919
Ernest Rutherford conducted the first artificial nuclear reaction in 1919
(transmutation reaction). He bombarded nitrogen nuclei with alpha
particles, which caused some of the nitrogen nuclei to transmute into
oxygen nuclei by releasing a proton

With :

4. Neutron discovery: Chadwick 1932

James Chadwick discovered the neutron in 1932 by bombarding beryllium

with alpha particles. The neutron is a neutral particle with the same mass
as a proton. It plays a key role in nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons.
 Summary table of the properties of the constituents of the atom

The number of protons in the nucleus of an atom is called the atomic number (Z). It
determines the chemical element of the atom.

The number of neutrons and protons in the nucleus of an atom is called the mass
number (A). It contributes to determining the mass of the atom.

The electron cloud is a region of probability that describes the position of electrons
around the nucleus. Electrons are attracted to the positive nucleus, but they are
also repelled by other electrons.
 II. The characteristics of the atom

1. Representation of a chemical element :

a. Neutral :

 Atomic mass  Nucleus mass

Nucleus charge : qN = +Z qp
 b. Ionised :

Electron number = Z ̶ n Cations  loss of e-  positive ions

Anions  gain of e-  negative ions

Chemical elements are said to be:

Isobares if: Exemple:

Isotopes if: Exemple:

Isotones if the two elements have Exemple:

the same neutron number
 2. Average atomic mass of an element:

Where Xi : represents the natural isotope abundance (in %)

Mi : represents the atomic mass expressed:
* In (m.a.u) if it is about an atom or
* In (g/mol) if it is about one mole.

Application exercise:

Natural nitrogen is made up of two isotopes, 14N and 15N. The exact mass of natural
nitrogen being 14.01, find the relative abundance of the two isotopes. The atomic masses
of the two isotopes are given ; 14N : 14.003 ; 15N : 15.0001.
III. Isotopic Separation-Bainbridge Spectrometer

The isotopic masses and their abundance were determined using a

mass spectrometer.
A mass spectrometer is a device that separates ions and molecules
from a sample based on their mass. 1904-1996

The spectrometer consists of four parts. :

1. Ion source
2. Velocity filter
3. Analyzer
4. Detector
1. Ion source :
A stream of electrons emitted from a heated
filament creates positively charged ions from
the atoms of a gas.

2. Velocity filter : The ions produced enter the velocity filter

and will be subjected to two forces.

Electric force:

Magnetic force:

And since:

The two forces are equal and opposite: Fe=Fm ⇒ qE = q v B1 ⇒ v = E/B1

3. The analyzer :

The ions are deflected following a circle of radius R such that: Fm = Fc, where Fc is the
𝑚𝑣2
centrifugal force = 𝑅

And Fm = qvB2 The 2 forces where equal and opposite:

qv0 B2 =

⇒
 4. The detector:
Distance between the two impact points of the two isotopic ions

And since ⇒

Knowing : (d) becomes:

Therefore : We can calculate:

or

We can thus identify the unknown element since : M ≈ A

The detector in quantitative analysis:

The detector collects ions and amplifies the signal, then a computer system converts the
received information into a mass spectrum that expresses the relative abundance of ions based
on their mass-to-charge ratio (m/z), where z is the charge number (+ or ++).