The Periodic Table:

• The alkali metals: a group of shiny, highly reactive metals found on the left hand side of the table.
• The alkaline earth metals: another group of shiny metals but of lower reactivity.
• The transition metals: a large group of metals of varying colours that are hard and have a range of useful
applications.
• The rare earth elements (lanthanides and actinides): a group of heavy metals, most of which emit radiation.
• The halogens: a group of gaseous/liquid non-metallic materials of moderate to high reactivity.
• The noble gases: a group of non-reactive gases found on the far right hand side of the Periodic Table.
• Metalloids, non-metals, poor metals: groups of elements that have non-metallic through to metallic properties.
• The Periodic Table is useful to us in terms of predicting the properties of elements and also to perform chemical
calculations that will be covered later in the course.

Elements

An element is a substance that consists of only one type of atom. Every element that is known to us can be found in the
Periodic Table. Each element is given a symbol of one of two letters, often referring to the elements name (for example,
magnesium's symbol is Mg) and some referring to the old, latin name for the element (for example, potassium's symbol
is K for the latin name kalium)

Copper: used in plumbing. Iron: used in building and construction. Nickel: used in our currency. Mercury: used in
thermometers. Arsenic: used in rat poison. Chromium/Vanadium: used in tools like wrenches and screwdrivers.
Aluminium: used in soft drink cans. Tungsten: used as the filament in halogen light bulbs. Carbon: used in pencils (as
graphite).Lead: used in fishing sinkers. Phosphorus: used in match heads. Neon: used in coloured lights.

Elements

Atomic Structure:
Protons: the positively charged particles that are found in the nucleus (central zone) of an atom. The number of protons
in an atom indicates the type of atom (element) that it is. For example, an atom with 6 protons in the nucleus is an atom
of carbon, an atom with 92 protons in the nucleus is an atom of uranium. Help bing nucleus

Electrons: the negatively charged particles that are found orbiting the nucleus in defined energy levels called 'shells'. The
purpose of electrons in an atom are to connect them to other atoms in a process called bonding.

Neutrons: the neutral particles that are found with the protons in the nucleus of an atom. They have zero charge and
their purpose are to space out the protons so they do not repel each other.

"Like forces repel, opposite forces attract"

There is an attractive force between electrons and protons called an electrostatic force.

Electron configurations:

The distances at which electrons orbit the nucleus are known as electron shells.

The electrons fill the shells in the following order:

hold 2 electrons. 2 can hold 8 electrons. 3 can hold 8 electrons. 4 can hold 18 electrons.5 can hold 18 electrons.6 can
hold 32 electrons.7 can hold 32 electrons.

Trends of the Periodic Table:

• Metallic character: the most metallic elements are found on the left hand side of the Periodic table and they
become less metallic from left to right. The elements also become more metallic from top to bottom.
• Atomic radius: the atomic radius refers to the distance from the centre of the nucleus of an atom to the perimeter of
the highest energy level. The atomic radius increases down a group because with each period there is another shell
added. The atomic radius decreases from left to right across a period because the number of shells hasn't changed
but there are more protons in the nucleus.
• Valency: this refers to the number of valence electrons
• Electronegativity: the definition of electronegativity is 'the affinity (love) of an atom for electrons'. An element with
high electronegativity is small (as the electrons are closer to the nucleus) and has a large number of valence
electrons. Electronegativity increases from left to right across the Periodic Table and from the bottom to the top.
• First ionisation energy: the term 'ionisation energy' refers to the amount of energy that it would take to remove one
electron from an uncharged atom. An element with a low first ionisation energy is an element with a low number of
valence electrons (that is, metals). This is because they need to lose electrons to become stable. An element with a
high first ionisation energy is one with a high number of valence electrons (that is, non-metals). This is because they
don't want electrons removed, they would rather gain them. Because of the attractive force of the nucleus, a
smaller atom will have a higher first ionisation energy. Francium will have the lowest first ionisation energy and
helium will have the highest first ionisation energy. * Going up increase as its closer harder to remove

Absorption and Emission:

Electrons revolve around the nucleus in defined energy levels. The lowest energy levels are closest to the nucleus and
the highest energy levels are furthest. When the amount of energy that the atom experiences changes, the electron
structure can change. When an atom absorbs energy from its environment, electrons may move from a lower energy
level to a higher one. Once they have reached a higher energy level, they drop back down to a lower one. When this
happens, the atom emits light. Atoms of different elements absorb and emit certain wavelengths.

An absorption spectrum shows what happens when an atom absorbs certain frequencies of light. The dark stripes
represent the light that is absorbed. An emission spectrum shows the frequencies that are emitted. You can see that the
emission spectrum fits over the absorption spectrum.

These spectra can be important to our understanding of the world. They can help us to determine the composition of
stars, the relative amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (global warming) or the concentrations of different
elements in a solution. This has a range of environmental and geochemical applications.

AAS

• A technique used to determine the concentration of different elements in a solution.

How is the analysis performed?

Focusing light of specific wavelength on atom in solutions and measuring how much light the atom has absorbed
Measurement of light absorbed is called absorbance Absorbance can be used to measure concentration . To do this you
need to produce solutions that are different concentrations of each other.

This is called COLLABORATION solutions. Instrumentation. For the aas machine to function, it requires

• Flame
• Method of spraying
• Beam of light for atoms to absorb
• Way to focus and detect light
• Device to show collaboration graph and to calculate results …............................
• The burner The burner is a steel plate with a thin for the flamable gas and sample mixture to come through. An
ignitor sets the gas alight by quickly shooting a flame across it
• Sample introduction A box with a thin tube. Solution is turned into a spray and mixed with flammable gas mixutre .
Tghen solution is forced into burner
• Light source Uses hollow cathode lamp. Produces beam of light specific to an element. Atoms in the flame absorb
the light. It is focussed through flame. Atoms abdorb the light. Some is transferred and is measured. A
monochromator measures absorbed light
• Photomultiplier tube Special device which is used to measure light and converts to electrical signal. Sent to
computer
• A computer: used to read the absorbance values and use them to calculate concentration. The light from the hollow
cathode lamp is focused through the flame. The atoms in the flame absorb light. That which is not absorbed (is
transmitted) is focused by a monochromator and measured by a detector. The amount of transmitted light is used
to calculate the amount of absorbed light (absorbance). The absorbance is used to measure concentration.

Mass spectrometry is an analytical technique where ions are sorted, detected and counted based on their mass to
charge ratio. The mass to charge ratio is calculated by taking the atomic mass of the isotope and dividing it by the charge
on its ion. For example, the mass to charge ratio of magnesium-24 would be (24 / 2 = 12). Mass spectrometry can be
used:

1) As a quantitative analysis: a mass spectrometer can be used to determine the concentration of elements or
compounds in a solution. Like atomic absorption, calibration solutions are analysed, and the concentration of these
solutions is measured against counts per second to give a calibration graph. The samples are then analysed and their
concentrations read off the calibration graph.

2) As a qualitative analysis: a mass spectrometer can be used to identify the components of a solution by producing a
mass spectrum. A mass spectrum is a chart that shows the abundance of each isotope of each element in the solution.
The components are shown in order of mass to charge ratio. The composition is shown as percent abundance.

There are four steps to how a mass spectrometer works:

• Vaporisation: Sample is sucked up by pumping it into a glass chamber. As it passes through a tiny tube called a
nebulizer it forms a fine spray. Mist is drawn into a tube called a torch where it reaches an ionisation source
(plasma).
• Ionisation: Plasma is at extremely high temperature (10000 kelvin). As the mist enters the plasma the liquid
evaporates and all that is left is ions. The ions are focused using cones to form an ion beam.
• Acceleration & Deflection: The ion beam is then accelerated through a set of magnetic rods called a quadrupole.
The rods deflect one type of ion toward the detector. All other ions are “vacuumed” out to waste.
• Detection: The detector for the instrument is called an electron multiplier. It counts each ion as it comes out the
other end and displays the results as a mass spectrum.

Isotopes are variations of the same element but with differing number of neutrons.

Eg: there are 3 isotopes of hydrogen. Protium ( 0 n), Detrium (1 n), Tritium (2 n).

• The term isotope corresponds to the variation in the atomic mass or weight of an element. It may also refer to
variations of a single element that have the same number of protons but vary in the number of neutrons in the
atom.
• Isotopes of an element have different physical properties because they have different mass numbers.
• Chemical properties of different isotopes are almost similar.
• When it comes to physical properties of isotopes including mass, melting, or boiling point, density, and freezing
point, they are all different.
• The physical properties of any isotope are determined by its mass. We may differentiate one isotope from another
by understanding the differences.

Calculation

Cl- 35 Abundance 75% (regular)

Cl- 37 Abundance 25%