Atom Structure

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 Defining the Atom

• An Atom is the smallest particle of an element that

retains its identity in a chemical reaction.

• The Greek Philosopher Democritus (460-370 BC), was

among the First to suggest the existence of atoms.

‘If you cut a piece of say, copper, smaller and smaller you must
eventually reach a particle of copper so small that it can be no
longer cut.’
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• Democritus believed that

atoms were indivisible and

indestructible.

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 Dalton’s Atomic Theory
• By experimental methods, Dalton transformed
Democritus’s ideas on atoms into scientific theory.

• Dalton studied the ratios in which elements combine

in chemical reactions. Based on the results of his
experiments, Dalton formulated hypotheses and
theories to explain his observations.

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 Dalton’s Atomic Theory

The Postulates – John Dalton (1766 -1844)

• All matter consists of indivisible particles called atoms.

• Atoms are the smallest unit of matter that can take part
in a chemical reaction.
• Atoms of the same element are similar in shape and
mass, but differ from the atoms of other elements.
• Atoms cannot be created or destroyed.

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 Dalton’s Atomic Theory

The Postulates – John Dalton (1766 -1844)

• Atoms of different elements may combine with each

other in a fixed, simple, whole number ratio to form
compounds.
• Atoms of different elements can combine in more than
one ratio to form two or more compounds.

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 Sizing up the Atom….
• Atoms are very small.

• A copper coin the size of a penny contains about 2.4

x 1022 atoms. By comparison, Earth’s population is
about 7 x 109 people.

• If you could line up 100,000,000 Copper atoms side

by side, they would produce a line only 1 cm long.

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 »Remember ….

•Atoms have NO
CHARGE!!

»They are electrically

neutral. 8
• Also ……..

• Electric charges are carried by

particles of matter (ions)

• Ex. Cl─ , Na+

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 And……

• There are NO fractions of

charges, only whole number
multiples!!!
• Ex. There is nothing like Na0.7+ or
Cl1.2─
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 And Finally…….
• When a negative particle combines with a positive

particle an electrically neutral particle is formed.

• +1 + -1 = 0

• Similarly, an atom is electrically neutral because the

positive charge on the nucleus is balanced by an

equal and opposite negative charge on the electrons

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 Plum Pudding Model of an atom
Electrons
• In Thomson’s atomic model,
known as the plum pudding
model, electrons were stuck
into a lump of positive
charge, similar to raisins
stuck in dough.

Sphere of positive charge

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• This model of the atom turned out to be short
lived, however, due to the groundbreaking
work of Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937), a
former student of Thomson.

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Rutherford’s Gold Foil Experiment

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Rutherford’s experiment

Majority α particles pass

through, undeflected!

Alpha particles scatter from the gold foil.

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 Rutherford Atomic Model
• He proposed that the atom is mostly empty space, thus
explaining the lack of deflection of most of the alpha
particles.

• He concluded that all the positive charge and almost all

the mass are concentrated in a small dense region,
which explain the small number of large deflections

• He called this region the Nucleus.

• The nucleus is the tiny central core of an atom

and is composed of protons and neutrons. 16
 Rutherford Atomic Model

• Thus, the atom is spherical, but the positive

charge is located at the center with a diffuse

negative charge surrounding it

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General structure of an atom as per current atomic theory

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 Remember….

• In the nuclear atom, the

protons and neutrons are
located in the nucleus. The
electrons are distributed
around the nucleus and occupy
almost all the volume of the
atom.
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 Bohr’s Model of atom
• Niels Bohr proposed the Bohr Model of the Atom in
1915. Because the Bohr Model is a modification of the
earlier Rutherford Model, some people call Bohr's
Model the Rutherford-Bohr Model.

• The Bohr Model is a planetary model in which the

negatively-charged electrons orbit a small, positively-
charged nucleus similar to the planets orbiting the Sun.

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 Bohr’s Model of atom
• The gravitational force of the solar system is
mathematically similar to the electrostatic
attraction between the positively-charged
nucleus and the negatively-charged electrons.

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 Bohr’s Model of atom
• Following are the Bohr’s postulates:

1. Electrons in the atom orbit the nucleus

2. The electrons can only orbit stably (i.e. without

radiating), in certain orbits (called by Bohr as the
‘stationary orbits’)

3. A specific number of electrons can be held in each

orbit
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 Bohr’s Model of atom
• Following are the Bohr’s postulates:

4. The orbits are at certain discreet set of distances

from the nucleus and are associated with definite
energies. Therefore the orbits are also called as
energy shells or energy levels

5. The energy of the orbit is related to its size. The

lowest energy is found in the smallest orbit.
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 Bohr’s Model of atom
• Following are the Bohr’s postulates:

6. Electromagnetic radiation is absorbed or emitted

when an electron moves from one orbit to another.

7. The frequency of the electromagnetic radiation

absorbed or emitted is determined by the energy
difference of the two levels between which the
electron moves
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 Filling of Electrons
• Each electron shell can Electron Shell Number of
Electrons
hold a certain number 1 2
of electrons 2 8
• Electron shells are filled 3 18

from the inside out 4 32

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 Atomic Orbitals
• Much like the Bohr model, the energy levels here
describe locations where you are likely to find an
electron.

• Remember that orbitals are “geometric shapes” around

the nucleus where electrons are found 90% of the time.

• Quantum mechanics calculates the probabilities where

you are “likely” to find electrons.
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 Electron clouds
• Although we cannot know how the electron travels around
the nucleus we can know where it spends the majority of its
time (thus, we can know position but not trajectory).
• The “probability” of finding an electron around a nucleus
can be calculated.
• Relative probability is indicated by a series of dots,
indicating the “electron cloud”.

• 90% electron probability/cloud

for 1s orbital (notice higher
probability toward the centre) 27
 Atomic Orbitals
• Scientists have agreed to limit the calculations
regarding electron locations, where there was at
least a 90% chance of finding an electron.

• So, think of orbitals as sort of a "border” for

spaces (around the nucleus) inside which the
electrons are allowed or there is at least a 90%
chance of finding an electron in that space.

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 Atomic Orbitals
• No more than 2 electrons can ever be in 1
orbital. The orbital just defines an “area” where
you can find an electron.

• And, what is the chance of finding an electron in

the nucleus? Of course, it’s zero. There aren’t
any electrons in the nucleus.

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 Atomic Orbitals

• Each energy sublevel corresponds to an orbital

of a different shape, which describes where
the electron is likely to be found.

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Shapes and Orientations
of Orbitals

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 1s Orbital

• A Sphere around the nucleus

• The ‘1’ tells that the electron is in the orbital
closest to the nucleus
• The ‘s’ tells you about the shape
• There is no ‘node’ (i.e. region of close to zero
electron density around the nucleus) for the
1s orbital

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 2s Orbital
• Shape is similar to 1s (i.e. spherical) except the
electron is most likely in the region bit farther
from the nucleus. Denser dots
than in the
inner circle

Lesser density means

the chance of finding
an electron at this
‘node’ is close to
zero. There is one
node for the 2s
orbital 33
 p Orbitals
• At the first energy level there is only the
1s orbital, but from the second energy
level there are 2p orbitals too
• They look like dumbbells
• There are three types of p-orbitals along
the three axes

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35
 d-orbitals
• From the third level there are d-orbitals too

• There are five types of d-orbitals

Orbital lobes along the Y-Z plane, but Orbital lobes along the X-Z plane but Orbital lobes along the X-Y plane but
not along the axes not along the axes not along the axes

Orbital lobes along the X-Y axes Orbital lobes along the Z axis
Atom Structure 36
in the X-Y plane
 d-orbitals
• From the third level there are d-orbitals too

• There are five types of d-orbitals

Atom Structure 37
 Orbitals
s p d

• In the ‘s’ block elements, the electrons are going into ‘s’ orbitals.

• In the ‘p’ block elements, the ‘s’ orbitals are full. The remaining electrons are
going into the ‘p’ orbitals.

• In the ‘d’ block elements, the ‘s’ and ‘p’ orbitals are full. The remaining
electrons are going into the ‘d’ orbitals. 38
 Where are these Orbitals?

‘s’ block elements

1s ‘p’ block elements
2s 2p
3s ‘d’ block elements 3p
4s 3d 4p
5s 4d 5p
6s 5d 6p
7s 6d 7p

4f ‘f’ block elements

5f

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 Electronic Configurations
• What is meant by “electron configuration?”
• The electron configuration is the specific way in
which the atomic orbitals are filled.
• Think of it as being similar to your address. The
electron configuration tells us where all the
electrons “live” around the nucleus.

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Rules for Electronic Configurations

The diagonal rule • In order to write an electron

configuration, we need to know the
RULES.

• 3 rules govern electron

configurations.

– Aufbau Principle

– Pauli Exclusion Principle

– Hund’s Rule
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Rules for Electronic Configurations

The diagonal rule • Using the orbital filling diagram at

the left helps to figure out HOW to
write them

– Start with the 1s orbital. Fill

each orbital completely and
then go to the next one, until all
of the elements have been
accounted for.
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 Rules for Electronic Configurations
Diagonal rule also called Madelunge’s rule or the Janet rule or the
Klechkowski’s rule
K 1s
L 2s 2p
M 3s 3p 3d
N 4s 4p 4d 4f
O 5s 5p 5d 5f 5g
P 6s 6p 6d 6f 6g 6h
Q 7s 7p 7d 7f 7g 7h 7i
R 8s 8p 8d 8f 8g 8h 8i
9s 9p 9d 9f 9g ---
10s 10p 10d --- ---
11s --- --- 43---
 Fill Lower Energy Orbitals FIRST
Each line
represents an
orbital. Ex.
1 (s), 3 (p), 5 (d)

High Energy

Refer to the diagonal rule

Low Energy 44
 Fill Lower Energy Orbitals FIRST

• The Aufbau Principle states

that electrons enter the lowest
High Energy
energy orbitals first.

• Within an energy level, s

orbitals are of lowest energy,
followed by p, d and then f, for
that energy level.

Low Energy 45
 No more than 2 Electrons in Any
Orbital…ever.

• The next rule is the Pauli Exclusion Principle.

• The Pauli Exclusion Principle states that an

atomic orbital may have up to 2 electrons

and then it is full. And, the spins of the

Wolfgang Pauli, Nobel
Prize in Physics (1945)
electrons have to be paired.

Electrons must have opposite spins from each other in order to

“share” the same orbital. 46
 No more than 2 Electrons in Any
Orbital…ever.
• We usually represent spin pairing with an up arrow
and a down arrow.

• Thus, one ‘s’ orbital will have a maximum of 2

electrons.

• Similarly, there are three ‘p’ orbitals which can hold a

maximum of 6 electrons (i.e. 2 electrons in each of
the px, py and pz orbitals)
Wolfgang Pauli, Nobel
Prize in Physics (1945) • Similarly, there are five ‘d’ orbitals which can hold a
These numbers indicate the maximum
number of electrons in those orbitals
maximum of 10 electrons

• And, there are seven ‘f’ orbitals that can hold a

s 2 p 6 d f
10 14
maximum of 14 electrons. 47
 Review
• Sublevels are made of orbitals.

– s-type sublevels are made of 1 orbital.

– p-type sublevels are made of 3 orbitals.

– d-type sublevels are made of 5 orbitals.

– f-type sublevels are made of 7 orbitals.

• Every orbital can hold up to 2 electrons.

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 Hund’s Rule
• Hunds Rule states that when we get to degenerate orbitals,

we fill them all half way first, and then we start pairing up the

electrons.

• What are degenerate orbitals?

• Degenerate means they have the same energy.

Orbital diagram for carbon

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Don’t pair up the 2p electrons until all three orbitals are half full with the same spin.
 Use the Hund’s Rule
• Similarly, the three p orbitals on each level (i.e. 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.)

are degenerate, because they all have the same energy.

• Similarly, the ‘d’ and ‘f’ orbitals are degenerate too.

Orbital diagram for nitrogen

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Don’t pair up the 2p electrons until all three orbitals are half full with the same spin.
 Use the Hund’s Rule

Orbital diagram for oxygen

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Don’t pair up the 2p electrons until all three orbitals are half full with the same spin.
 Practice!!!!

• Knowing the rules, one can write the

electronic configurations.

• Remember to use the diagonal rule to

determine WHICH orbital comes next

Atom Structure 52
 Writing the electronic configuration

• Knowing the rules, you can try to write some

electron configurations.

• Remember to use the diagonal rule to determine

the energy order of the atomic orbitals.

• Write the electron configurations for the first

twenty elements, starting with hydrogen.

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 Orbital Diagrams
• Show the arrangement of electrons in orbitals within
an atom.

– Use boxes to represent orbitals.

– One arrow (↑) represents 1 e-.

– 2 arrows (↑↓) represents 2 e-.

– One upward and one downward arrow indicate

that the electrons in that orbital have opposite
spins or they are spin-paired 54
 Electronic configuration & Orbital Diagram

• Orbital diagram and electronic configuration for

Hydrogen (H, atomic number 1).

1s1

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 Electronic configuration & Orbital Diagram

• Orbital diagram and electronic configuration for

Helium (He, atomic number 2).

1s2

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 Electronic configuration & Orbital Diagram

• Orbital diagram and electronic configuration for

Lithium (Li, atomic number 3).
1s2 2s1

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 Electronic configuration & Orbital Diagram

• Orbital diagram and electronic configuration for

Beryllium (Be, atomic number 4).

1s2 2s2

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 Electronic configuration & Orbital Diagram

• Orbital diagram and electronic configuration for

Boron (B, atomic number 5).

1s2 2s2 2p1

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 Electronic configuration & Orbital Diagram

• Orbital diagram and electronic configuration for

Carbon (C, atomic number 6).

1s2 2s2 2p2

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Don’t pair up the 2p electrons until all three orbitals are half full with the same spin.
 Electronic configuration & Orbital Diagram

• Orbital diagram and electronic configuration for

Nitrogen (N, atomic number 7).

1s2 2s2 2p3

Don’t pair up the 2p electrons until all three orbitals are half full with the same spin.
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 Electronic configuration & Orbital Diagram

• Orbital diagram and electronic configuration for

Oxygen (O, atomic number 8).

1s2 2s2 2p4

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 Electronic configuration & Orbital Diagram

• Orbital diagram and electronic configuration for

Fluorine (F, atomic number 9).

1s2 2s2 2p5

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 Electronic configuration & Orbital Diagram

• Orbital diagram and electronic configuration for

Neon (Ne, atomic number 10).

1s2 2s2 2p6

Note that all the superscript numbers in the electronic configuration add up to
the atomic number for that element. Ex: for Ne (At. No.=10), 2+2+6 = 10 64
 Electronic configuration & Orbital Diagram

• Orbital diagram and electronic configuration for

Sodium (Na, atomic number 11).

1s2 2s2 2p6 3s1

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 Electronic configuration & Orbital Diagram

• Orbital diagram and electronic configuration for

Magnesium (Mg, atomic number 12).

1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2

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 Electronic configuration & Orbital Diagram

• Orbital diagram and electronic configuration for

Aluminum (Al, atomic number 13).

1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p1

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 Electronic configuration & Orbital Diagram

• Orbital diagram and electronic configuration for

Silicon (Si, atomic number 14).

1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p2

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Don’t pair up the 3p electrons until all three orbitals are half full with the same spin.
 Electronic configuration & Orbital Diagram

• Orbital diagram and electronic configuration for

Phosphorus (P, atomic number 15).

1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p3

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Don’t pair up the 3p electrons until all three orbitals are half full with the same spin.
 Electronic configuration & Orbital Diagram

• Orbital diagram and electronic configuration for

Sulfur (S, atomic number 16).

1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p4

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 Electronic configuration & Orbital Diagram

• Orbital diagram and electronic configuration for

Chlorine (Cl, atomic number 17).

1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p5

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 Electronic configuration & Orbital Diagram

• Orbital diagram and electronic configuration for

Argon (Ar, atomic number 18).

1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6

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 Electronic configuration & Orbital Diagram

• Orbital diagram and electronic configuration for

Potassium (K, atomic number 19).

1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s1

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 Electronic configuration & Orbital Diagram

• Orbital diagram and electronic configuration for

Calcium (Ca, atomic number 20).

1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2

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Atom Structure

Remember to use the diagonal rule to know

which energy level comes next!
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