Genre Comprehension Skill Text Features Science Content

Nonfiction Make Inferences • Captions Matter

• Diagram
• Glossary

Scott Foresman Science 5.1

ISBN 0-328-23565-2

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 Vocabulary Extended Vocabulary
atom anion
atomic number cation
chemical property covalent bond
compound ionic bond
element nuclear fission
molecule particle accelerator
physical property quark by Sam Brelsfoard
solution valence shell

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What You Already Know

All matter consists of basic building blocks called elements. Atoms can join with other atoms to make molecules. A
Each element has different properties. A physical property is molecule contains at least two atoms. A compound is a type of
a property that can be seen or measured without changing a matter made of two or more elements combined. The smallest
material. A chemical property describes how a type of matter piece of a compound that still has the same properties of the
changes when it mixes with something else. compound is a molecule.
An atom is the smallest particle of an element that has the Salts consist of particles held together by opposite charges.
same properties of the element. The number of neutrons within A salt is usually made of at least one metal and one nonmetal.
an element’s nucleus tells us that element’s atomic number. Mixtures consist of different materials that have been placed
The elements are arranged according to their atomic together without forming new compounds. When a mixture
number in a chart called the periodic table. Elements are spreads out evenly, without settling, it forms a solution.
either metals, nonmetals, or metalloids. Each block on the
periodic table indicates an element’s name, chemical symbol, You have learned about an atom’s structure, and how
and atomic number. The color of a block on the atoms are related to molecules and elements. This book
periodic table tells us whether an element is a further explores atoms, while examining the uses we have
metal, a nonmetal, or a metalloid. found for these tiny pieces of matter.
Most metals are shiny, bendable, and
efficient conductors of heat and electricity.
Some types of metals are alloys. Each
alloy is a mixture of two or more
elements combined.

Wood’s chemical properties

change when it burns.

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Atoms and Elements
An element is a substance that is pure. It cannot be broken
down by ordinary physical or chemical means. There are
about ninety-two elements in the universe. Scientists have also
created twelve elements. You may know about such elements
as oxygen, carbon, and chlorine.
An atom is the smallest part of an element that has all of
the element’s properties. A compound is formed when one Hydrogen and helium
are two of the most
element is joined to one or more other elements. Table salt, or basic elements that can
sodium chloride, is one kind of compound. It is made up of the be found in space.
elements sodium and chlorine.
Quartz is also a compound. It is made up of the elements In this code each element has a symbol. The symbol for many
oxygen and silicon. Gold, on the other hand, is an element. elements is simply the first one or two letters of their English
Gold cannot be broken down into a more simple substance. name. Hydrogen’s symbol is H, and helium’s symbol
Scientists developed a code so that people worldwide could is He. Sometimes the symbols come from
talk and write about elements and compounds in a way that the Latin name for the element. The others 1%

everyone could understand. Using this code, one scientist can symbol for sodium is Na, which stands phosphorus 1%
calcium 2%
write out formulas that another scientist can understand. It for “natrium.” To write the name of a
nitrogen 3%
does not matter if the scientists speak different languages. compound using these symbols, you
hydrogen 10%
simply place one symbol next to the
other. The symbol for table salt, or
carbon 18%
sodium chloride, is NaCl.
Everything in the universe is made
Gold is an element. Quartz is a compound oxygen 65%
of the elements oxygen and silicon. up of elements. The element oxygen
gold makes up about 65 percent of your
body. The human body contains about Body Elements
fifty different elements. Of these fifty About 99 percent
elements, six make up 99 percent of of the tissue of
quartz
your body. These six elements are your body is
made up of only
oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen,
6 elements,
calcium, and phosphorus. as listed above.

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Inside the Atom Ions
An ion is an atom with an electrical charge. A neutral atom
Atoms are tiny. But they are made up of even tinier parts, has an equal number of protons and electrons. The electrons’
called subatomic particles. The three main types of subatomic negative charges and the protons’ positive charges balance each
particles are electrons, protons, and neutrons. Protons have other out. This gives the atom no charge. If it loses an electron,
a positive charge. Neutrons have no charge. Electrons have it becomes a positive ion, or a cation. The positive protons
a negative charge. Protons and neutrons are at the center, or outnumber the negative electrons. When a neutral atom gains an
nucleus, of the atom. The number of protons in the nucleus of electron, it becomes a negative ion. A negative ion is also known
an atom determines what element it is. If an atom has only one as an anion. In an anion, there are more negative electrons than
proton, then we can be sure that it is a hydrogen atom. If an positive protons.
atom has six protons, then it is a carbon atom.
The electrons are found in layers,
called shells, around the nucleus. They nucleus
move around in the shells, orbiting
the nucleus at very high speeds.
Structure of an atom
The outer shell of an atom is
called the valence shell. The
electrons in this shell are
called valence electrons.
Valence electrons allow
electron
atoms to form bonds with
other atoms.

six neutrons (red)

inner shell six protons (gray)

orbit

valence
shell

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 To fill the two empty spaces
Joining Together in its valence shell, oxygen
shares the electrons of two
If an atom’s valence shell is not full of electrons, the atom hydrogen atoms. This creates
is unstable. To become stable, the atom’s valence shell can gain a molecule of water.
electrons until it is completely full. Or the shell can lose them Covalent bonds can take
until it is completely empty. Atoms do this by joining with other the form of single, double, or
atoms in a process called bonding. Two main types of bonds triple bonds. The form they
that atoms can have are covalent bonds and ionic bonds. take depends on the number Water, or H2O, is a molecule
of electrons being shared. made from two hydrogen atoms
and one oxygen atom.
Single bonds share one pair of
Covalent Bonds electrons. Double bonds share
A covalent bond can occur between atoms that need two pairs, and triple bonds
electrons to fill their valence shells. To do this, the atoms share three pairs.
share electrons. Oxygen needs eight electrons to fill its outer Covalent bonds are stronger than most other bonds.
shell, but it only has six. Hydrogen needs two electrons, but They are more common between nonmetal atoms.
it only has one.

Water is a simple covalent compound.

Two atoms of hydrogen and one of
oxygen make a water molecule.

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 If one were to drop sodium
Ionic Bonds into a bucket of chlorine, a
An ionic bond forms when electrons transfer from one violent reaction would occur.
atom to another. Sodium and chlorine make an ionic bond This happens because the
to form table salt. A sodium atom has only one electron in its chlorine and sodium are
valence shell. It would need seven additional electrons to fill its strongly attracted to each other.
shell. It is much easier for sodium to give up one electron than The chlorine atoms quickly
to gain seven. Chlorine has one open space in its valence shell. pick up the electrons that the
When sodium and chlorine mix together, the sodium atom sodium atoms are releasing.
gives its extra electron to the chlorine atom. When everything settles, sodium
chloride is all that is left. The ionic
When the sodium atom gives up an electron, its charge sodium
bond
sodium and the chlorine are ion
changes. It now has more protons than electrons. This gives it chlorine
a positive charge. The chlorine atom now has more electrons chemically tied together through ion
than protons. This gives it a negative charge. The different ionic bonds. Sodium chloride is made up of
positively charged sodium atoms
charges of the atoms cause them to stick together, similar to and negatively charged chlorine
two magnets. This attraction is what causes an ionic bond. atoms. They are held together by
ionic bonds.

Salt is a compound that

contains ionic bonds Carbon
between sodium and
chlorine atoms. Carbon is found in nature in many different forms,
including graphite and diamond. Graphite is soft
and diamond is hard. They are different because
they have different molecular structures. In
graphite the carbon atoms are arranged in
sheets and are able to slide over each other.
Diamond carbon atoms are arranged in
a stiff geometric structure.

graphite carbon atoms diamond carbon atoms

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 In 1938, scientists discovered that it is sometimes possible
Splitting Apart to split an atom with an unstable nucleus. The best-known
radioactive material is uranium. It is one of the easiest elements
The atoms of some to split. When uranium atoms are split, they release huge
elements are very unstable. amounts of energy. This process is called nuclear fission.
This causes them to break Scientists split an atom by forcing a neutron through its
down naturally. Such an nucleus. This causes the atom to split into two new atoms.
atom might have too many Along with energy, this reaction releases particles that fly off in
protons, neutrons, or both in all directions. Some of these particles are released as radiation.
its nucleus. These protons and Others strike the nuclei of other uranium atoms, causing them
neutrons leave the nucleus. to split. When they split, they also release particles, which split
This produces a type of energy still more nuclei. This is called a chain reaction. Chain reactions
called radiation. Elements create lots of heat energy. This heat can be used to make steam,
that give off radiation, such which can spin generators to produce electricity.
as radium and uranium, are
radioactive.
Radiation can destroy cells
in the body. But scientists have Radiation can be used positively
to help combat cancer.
found many positive uses for
radiation. In radiation therapy,
tumors are blasted with gamma
rays to kill cancer cells.
We must be very careful with radiation. Exposure to large
doses or even repeated exposure to small doses can be very
dangerous. Scientists use instruments called Geiger counters
to test whether radiation is at safe levels.

Geiger counters can detect many

different types of radiation.

Nuclear fission is used to generate electricity in power plants such as this one..

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Smaller and Smaller
In the 1800s, it was believed that the atom was the smallest
particle. Millions of atoms can fit side to side across the head
of a pin. Eventually, protons, neutrons, and electrons were
discovered. These particles are about one million times smaller
than the smallest atom! It’s hard to believe that there could be
anything smaller than that, but there is. In the 1960s, scientists
discovered an even smaller particle, the quark. Quarks make up
neutrons and protons.
Very little is known about quarks. They are always found
in groups, and there are six different types, or “flavors.” These This computer image shows collisions between particles in a particle accelerator.
are called up, down, top, bottom, strange, and charm. Different
combinations of flavors make up different particles. Protons are
No one has ever seen a quark. How do we know they exist?
made of two up quarks and a down quark. Neutrons are made
In the 1960s, scientists were discovering many particles that
of two down quarks and an up quark.
were similar to protons and neutrons. They began to wonder if
there was a more basic particle that had not been discovered yet.
A neutron consists
of three quarks. They called this undiscovered particle the quark, after a word
that Irish author James Joyce invented for one of his novels.
The existence of the quark was proven in 1968 by using a
particle accelerator. A particle accelerator is a huge ring-shaped
machine that measures several kilometers across. Particles travel
around the ring at very high speeds and then crash into each
other. Scientists used an accelerator to crash a tiny particle into
a proton. By observing how the particle behaved as it passed
through the proton, they concluded that the proton was not
solid. It was made up of several extremely tiny particles. These
particles were quarks.
Quarks are the smallest, most basic particles known. But
quarks may be made up of even smaller particles. The more we
learn about these tiny bits of matter, the more we learn about
how all matter behaves.

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Glossary What did you learn?
1. What is the difference between an element and a
anion a negatively charged ion compound?

cation a positively charged ion 2. What three subatomic particles make an atom?

covalent bond a bond in which atoms share electrons 3. Why do hydrogen and oxygen bond together to make
water?

ionic bond a bond in which one atom gives an 4. Use school resources to write a
electron to another atom, giving the research report about Geiger counters. Include
atoms different charges and causing information on their inventor, how they work, and
them to become attracted to each other what situations they are used in.

nuclear fission the process of splitting an atom in two 5. Make Inferences Based on what you have read,
infer how scientists might go about finding particles
that are smaller than quarks.
particle accelerator huge ring-shaped machine used by
scientists to collide tiny particles into
each other at very high speeds

quark tiny particles that make up neutrons

and protons

valence shell the outer shell of an atom, around

which the valence electrons orbit

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