PHYSICS SUMMARY NOTES 💥
Topic: Modern Physics (I)
DEFINITION OF AN ATOM ⚛
An atom is defined as the smallest indivisible particle of an element which
can take part in a chemical reaction.
THE STRUCTURE OF AN ATOM
An atom consists of a central nucleus, which is made up of protons and
neutrons. Around this, are electrons which orbit at high speed.
TERMS USED IN DESCRIBING ATOMS
NUCLEUS
The central part of an atom which consists of protons and neutrons. It is
the massive part of the atom.
NUCLEI
The plural form of nucleus.
PROTON
The positive charged particles in the nucleus of an atom. It can be
represented by ¹₁H
NEUTRON
Uncharged particles inside the nucleus of an atom. It can be represented as
¹₀n.
ELECTRON
The negatively charged particles orbiting around the nucleus. It can be
represented as ⁰_₁e.
POSITRON
The positive electron that can be represented as ⁰₁e
ATOMIC NUMBER
This is the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom. It can also be
called the proton number.
MASS NUMBER
The total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom. It can
also be called the nucleon number.
PHOTON
A photon means an energy of radiation.
The basic building blocks of the nucleus are the proton and the neutron. In
a neutral atom, the dense positively charged nucleus is surrounded by ONE
electron for EVERY proton in the nucleus. The proton and the neutron
together make up what is called nucleon. The radii of most nuclei are
represented by r = r₀A, where r₀=1.2 x 10⁻¹⁵m.
The proton which carries POSITIVE charge has a mass, m, of
1.673×10⁻²⁷kg and a positive charge of e+ =1.62×10⁻¹⁹C. The electron
which carries a NEGATIVE charge has a mass, m, of 9.11×10⁻³¹ kg and an
electronic charge e- = 1.6×10-¹⁹C.
In a neutral atom of sodium, there are 11 protons and 11 electrons (i.e
number of electrons equal number of protons). 💨
The neutron carries NO charge but its mass, m about the same as a proton
m = 1.675 × 10-²⁷kg.🚀
The number of protons in a nucleus is the proton (atomic) number and is
designated by Z. The number of neutrons is called neutron number, N. The
nucleon number (mass number), A is the sum of the number of proton, Z
and the number of neutrons, N that is, A=Z+N.
A single nuclear species having specific values of both Z and A is called a
NUCLIDE.
J.J. Thompson's "Plum Pudding" Model (1897)
J.J. Thompson is the discoverer of the electron and he measured it's
specific charge, that is the ratio of electron charge to electron mass(e/m).
He believed that the atom is a uniform sphere of positive charges with
electrons embedded in it.
Shortcomings 📌
1) It failed to explain how the fundamental particles were arranged in an
atom.
2) The model could not give experimental results.
Rutherford's Model( 1909)
The following are postulates of the Rutherford's model
1)The atom of an element consists of a small positive charged nucleus in
the centre which carries almost the entire mass of the atom.
2) The electrons are revolving around the nucleus at high speed.
3)The number of protons in an atom is equal to the number of electrons in
an atom is electrically neutral.
4) Most of the spaces in an atom are empty .
Shortcomings 📌
1) His model was unable to explain the long-term existence of atoms.
2) His model could not explain the spiral line of the atom.
Noel Bohr's Model (1913)
The motion of the electrons in Rutherford's model was unstable because
according to the classical mechanic and electromagnetic theory, any
charged particle moving in a curved path emits electromagnetic radiation,
thus the electron will lose energy and spiral into the nucleus.
To remedy the stability problem Bohr modified the Rutherford's model by
requiring that electrons move in orbit of fixed size and energy.
Note the following 📍
• The energy of an electron depends on the size of the orbit and is lower for
smaller orbits.
• Radiation can occur only when the electron jumps from one object to
another.
• The atom will be completely stable in the state with the smaller orbit since
there is no orbit of lower energy into which electron can jump.
• Electrons orbit the nucleus with an angular momentum, me.vn.rn = nh/2π
me= mass of electron
v= velocity
r= radius of the orbit
h= planck's constant and n are integer values.
n is an integer (1,2,3,...)
The dots represent multiplication
• When an atom gains or absorbs energy, its electron moves from lower
energy level to higher energy level.
• The atom radiates energy only when an electron jumps back from a higher
energy level to a lower energy level.
Cheers 🥂
Shortcomings 📍
• It is not a complete model as it is useful for atoms which contain only one
electron but not for greater atoms with two or more electrons.
• It could not account for the present of a doublet of spiral lines in the atom.
• It cannot be used to calculate many important properties of the atom
such as intensity or the spiral line of the atom.
• It completely violated the uncertainty principle.
ENERGY QUANTIZATION
The electron travels in a circular orbit around the nucleus. The orbits have
quantized size and energies. Energy is emitted from the atom when the
electron jumps from one orbit to another closer to the nucleus.
If E1 and E2 are the energies corresponding to the higher and lower energy
levels respectively, the frequency f of the emitted photons is given by :
E2 - E1 = hf, ΔE = hf
Recall that from the study of Waves, c=fλ, therefore f= c/λ
∴ ΔE = hc/λ
Better Still,
Energy levels in atoms From Bohr's theory of the hydrogen atom, the
energy levels in multielectron atoms could not be predicted.
However, the fundamental ideas of Bohr's theory that the angular
momentum of the electron has quantum (discrete) values and that energy
levels of the atom have only allowed separated values which characterize
the atom were valid.
So, it is supposed that a given atom has a series of discrete energy levels
Eo, E1, E2, and that no intermediate energy level is possible. The lowest
energy level systems in this state are in stable equilibrium.
If the atom absorbs energy, and the energy of the atom reaches one of its
allowed values, E1, the atom is said to be in an excited state. Once an atom
has been excited to a higher energy level, En, it will try to reduce its energy.
The energy lost if the atom reverses to the ground state is (En-Eo).
This energy is radiated in the form of electromagnetic radiation. The energy,
ΔE, of the photon emitted is expressed as
ΔE = hc/λ 📍
Normal or Ground State 🔥
When an atom is in its innermost orbit (n=1) then the atom is said to be
with normal or ground state.
Excited State 🔥
When an electron is forced into an higher or outer n value orbit(n= 2,3,...),
then the atom is said to be an excited state.
Ionization State 🔥
When an electron is completely removed from the atom then the atom is
said to be in an ionization state.
SEE YOU IN CLASS
