Manuel S.

Enverga University Foundation

ON AUTONOMOUS STATUS
Basic Education

Lesson 2: Atoms, Molecules, and Ions

Learning Competencies:
1. Explain how basic laws of matter (law of conservation of mass, law of constant composition or definite
proportions, law of multiple proportions) led to the formulation of Dalton’s atomic theory;
2. Describe Dalton’s atomic theory;
3. Differentiate among atomic number, mass number, and isotopes;
4. Explain relative atomic mass or average atomic mass;
5. Write isotope notations;
6. Compute for the relative atomic mass of selected isotopes;
7. Recognize common isotopes and their uses;
8. Differentiate among atoms, molecules, ions, and give examples;
9. Represent compounds using chemical formulas, structural formulas, and models;
10. Give the similarities and differences between the empirical formula and the molecular formula of a
compound;
11. Name compounds given their formulas, and write the formulas of the compounds given their names;
12. Practice naming ionic compounds and writing their chemical formulas.

THE BIRTH OF ATOMIC THEORY

During the 4th century BCE, a Greek philosopher named
Democritus had the idea that all matter consisted of
minute particles, which he then coined as atomos. To
illustrate his idea of an atom, imagine a whole sheet of paper
that you continually cut into pieces until you eventually come
up with the piece that could not be divided anymore.
However, his idea about atoms was not accepted by the
community. He could not provide a factual basis to his claims
because atomos was purely based on philosophical
reasoning. Even if it was not accepted during his time,
however the idea of atomos endured over the years. The
accumulation of empirical evidence results of experimental analysis on elements and compounds has fueled
the search for the building blocks that compose all matter.
 Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation
ON AUTONOMOUS STATUS
Basic Education

JOHN DALTON
The scientist who provided precise and detailed description of the building
blocks of matter is none other than John Dalton. During the 19th century,
John Dalton formulated the atomic theory in an attempt to explain
everything about matter. His atomic theory can be summarized as follows:
1. An element is made up of extremely small, indestructible particles
called the atom.
2. Atoms of the same element share the same chemical properties.
Atoms of different elements have different chemical properties.
3. Compounds are made up of atoms of more than one type of
element. The ratio of the number of atoms of any two elements
present is either an integer or a simple fraction.
4. In any chemical reaction, atoms are rearranged to produce different substances. The identity and the
mass of the atoms are unchanged.
THREE FUNDAMENTAL LAWS OF MATTER
The Law of definite proportions or constant
composition explains that elements combine in
ratios of simple whole numbers to form a
compound. If you will get samples of water
(𝐻2 𝑂) from different areas and subject these
samples to chemical analysis, you would find
that a molecule of water, regardless of its
source, is always composed of two atoms of
hydrogen and one atom of oxygen.

The Law of multiple proportions explains that when two elements

react to form two or more different compounds, with one fixed or
constant element, the mass ration of the constant element in the
compounds is expressed in the smallest whole number. Thus, different
compounds with the same or fixed elements still differ in the number
of their atoms.
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ON AUTONOMOUS STATUS
Basic Education

For example, carbon dioxide (𝐶𝑂2) and carbon monoxide (CO) are two
compounds primarily comprising C and O. Though both compounds are
constituted by the same types of elements, they behave differently
because they composed of the different number of atoms of an element.
CO is made up of one C atom and another atom of O, whereas 𝐶𝑂2
comprises one atom and C and two atoms of O. Simply, the ration of O
to C in CO is 1:1 for 𝐶𝑂2 it is 2:1.

The Law of conservation of matter explains that the amount

of the reactants is always equal to the amount of the products
in any reaction. This is a restatement of the fourth postulates
of Dalton’s atomic theory. This law states that in any chemical
reaction, atoms are always conserved. No atoms will be
destroyed or automatically created. They undergo formation
of new substances, but the numbers of atoms are still intact
before and after any reaction.

THE STRUCTURE OF THE ATOM

The atom, as described by the atomic theory, is the basic unit of
an element that can take part in chemical rection. However,
Dalton did not make any experimentation to determine or even
describe the structure and composition of atom. He thought
that the atom is both extremely small and indivisible. This
assumption challenged scientists to prove and demonstrate
that an atom contains an internal structure with smaller
particles.

Eventually, the three subatomic particles (i.e., electrons, protons, neutrons) were discovered.

Electron (𝒆− )

The electron is the negatively charged subatomic particle with a mass of 9.11× 10−28 g. It was discovered by
J.J Thomson (1856 – 1940) using the cathode ray tube experiment. He noticed that the ray produced at the
negative electrode (the cathode ray) was repelled by the negative pole of an existing electric field when high
 Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation
ON AUTONOMOUS STATUS
Basic Education

voltage was applied to a vacuum tube. Based on this observation, he

suggested that the cathode ray was made up of streams of negative
particles from atom called the electrons. Later on, it was found out that
electrons play a vital role in the chemical bonding and chemical reactions
of elements, paving the way for the existence of various compounds.

The proton is the positively charged subatomic particle with mass

of 1.6726× 10−24 g. It is located at the center of atom called the

nucleus. It was discovered by Ernest Ruther Ford (1871-1931)
using his famous gold foil experiment. Based on these
observations, he concluded that the atom is mostly empty space with a
small solid positively charged nucleus. An atom of an elements is mainly
characterized by the number of proton(s). For example, hydrogen has one
proton, sodium has 11 protons, and sulfur has 16 protons. Unlike electrons that
cannot be easily removed from the nucleus. Proton transfer is an indication of a nuclear reaction. Take note
that elements generally exist naturally as electrically neutral substances. This means that the number of
protons should be exactly the same as that of the electrons.

Neutron
The neutron is the electrically neutral subatomic particle
with a mass of 1.6749× 10−24 𝑔. It was discovered by
James Chadwick (1891 – 1974) using his beryllium foil
experiment. In his beryllium foil experiment, he observed that
there was less deflection of particles, implying the existence of
neutral particles in the nucleus together with the protons.
Thus, the mass of the protons and neutrons account for the
atomic mass.
 Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation
ON AUTONOMOUS STATUS
Basic Education

THE STRUCTURE OF THE ATOM

The subatomic particles and their properties

Name Symbol Mass(g) Mass (amu) Charge

proton 𝑝+ 1.6726× 10−24 1.00728 +

electron 𝑒− 9.109410× 10−28 0.00055 −

neutron 𝑛0 1.6749× 10−24 1.00867 no charge

 Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation
ON AUTONOMOUS STATUS
Basic Education

ATOMIC NUMBER AND MASS NUMBER

An atom contains a nucleus composed of protons an neutrons and
electrons moving around the nucleus.
There are two ways to describe an atom quantitatively based on the
number of specific subatomic particles: the atomic number and atomic
mass.

The atomic number (Z) is equal to the number of protons in an

atom. In the assumption of an electrically neutral atom, the atomic
number is also equal to the number of electrons in the same atom.

Atoms bearing the same atomic number are atoms of the same
element, therefore behaving in the same way.

On the other hand, the mass number (A) is the total amount
of particles (i.e., the number of protons and neutrons) found
in the nucleus of an atom. You can represent the A and Z of
an element using the standard notation below.

The variable e is the charge of the atom, and X stands for any chemical symbol of an element. Take a look at
the notation of uranium.
𝐴 𝑒
𝑍𝑋

The variable e is the charge of the atom, and X stands for any chemical symbol of an element. Take a look at
the notation of uranium.
238
92𝑈

In the notation above, you can see that Z is 92, A is 238, and e is 0. The given uranium atom is neutrally
charged. Therefore, uranium has an equal number of protons and electrons (i.e., 92 protons and 92 electrons).
On the other hand, to compute for the number of neutrons, subtract Z from A (i.e., 238 – 92 = 146). Therefore,
uranium has 146 neutrons.
 Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation
ON AUTONOMOUS STATUS
Basic Education

ISOTOPES
When you deal with atoms of the same number of protons but different number of neutrons, you are dealing
with isotopes.

Notice that both atoms of O have an atomic number of 8. This means that an oxygen atom has 8 protons.
However, they have different number of neurons (i.e., 8 and 10 neurons, respectively). In writing the symbol of
an isotope, place the mass number as a superscript (i.e., 16𝑂). Therefore, you can simply write isotopes of the oxygen
atoms using the following isotopic notation: 16𝑂 and 18𝑂 or oxygen – 16 and oxygen – 18 respectively.

Isotopes can be classified as stable or unstable.

Stable isotopes are isotopes that do not undergo radioactivity and do not disintegrate. Thus, they are abundant in
nature. On the other hand, unstable isotopes are those that exhibit radioactivity. They can be natural or artificial.
Nevertheless, both emit radiation in the form of alpha, beta, and gamma rays.

RELATIVE ATOMIC MASS

There are is a difference among the mass number of an atom, atomic weight, and relative atomic mass. The mass
number is based on the sum of the protons and neutrons in an atom, and it is thus expressed in whole numbers. In
contrast, the atomic mass, atomic weight, or relative mass in the periodic table is the consolidated average of the
masses of the naturally existing isotopes relative to the mass of carbon-12.
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ON AUTONOMOUS STATUS
Basic Education

Relative atomic mass = 𝛴 (mass of the isotope)(percent abundance)

Example:

Chlorine occurs in nature as 75.53% of chlorine-35 (34.97 amu) and 24.47% chlorine-37 (36.97 amu). What is its relative
atomic mass?

Solution:

(0.7553 × 34.97 amu) + (0.2447 × 36.97 amu) = 35.46 amu

IONS

• When atom lose or gain electrons to become stable,

they may form an ionic bond. Electron transfer
produces an imbalance in the charge of the atom that
results in the formation of ions.
• When an atom gains electron it becomes negatively
charged and it is then called anion.
• When an atom gives off an electron its charge becomes
positive and is then called cation.

Formation of the 𝐶𝑙 − anion Formation of the 𝑁𝑎+ cation