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ATOMIC STRUCTURE & RADIOACTIVITY

What is Atom?
Atoms are the basic units of matter and the defining structure of elements. The term
"atom" comes from the Greek word for indivisible, because it was once thought that
atoms were the smallest things in the universe and could not be divided.

Key points of Atom:

• Discovered by John Dalton
• Different atoms of same element have equal mass
• Contains several subatomic particles:
➢ Electron
➢ Proton
➢ Neutron
Electron
• Discovered by J J Thomson in 1897
• He performed a Cathode Ray Experiment
• It has a charge of -1.6x10-19C
• It has a mass of 9.1x10-31kg
• The mass of electron is so small that it is considered negligible. Thus, the mass of
an atom is given by the sum of the mass of neutrons and protons.
Proton
• Discovered by E Goldstein in 1886
• He performed a Canal Ray Experiment
• Named positive charged ion as H+ ion
• Named proton by Ernst Rutherford in 1917
• It has a charge of 1.6x10-19C
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• It has a mass of 1.6726x10-27kg

Neutron
• Discovered by James Chadwick in 1932
• It has a no charge
• It has a mass of 1.6749x10-27kg
• Present in all atoms except that of Hydrogen
Atomic Symbol

• Isotopes:
➢ The atoms of same element with same atomic number but different mass number are
called isotopes of that element.

➢ Isotopes have same chemical properties but different physical properties.

➢ Isotope of uranium is used as fuel in nuclear reactors, isotope of cobalt is used in
treatment of cancer and isotope of iodine is used in the treatment of goitre.
• Isobars:
➢ The atoms of different elements with different atomic number but same mass
number are known as isobars.

➢ Isobars always have different atomic structure because of the difference in atomic
numbers.
➢ Isobars have different chemical properties.
Isotones
Two nuclides are isotones if they have the same neutron number, but different proton
number. For example, chlorine-37 and potassium-39 are isotones, because the nucleus
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of this species of chlorine consists of 17 protons and 20 neutrons, whereas the nucleus
of this species of potassium contains 19 protons and 20 neutrons.
Atomic Models
Nowadays, we know that atoms are made up of a positively charged nucleus in the
centre surrounded by negatively charged electrons. However, in the past, before the
structure of the atom was properly understood, scientists came up with lots of different
models/pictures to describe what atoms look like.
A model is a representation of a system in the real world. Models help us to understand
systems and their properties.
Dalton’s Model
John Dalton was an English scientist, who came up with an idea that all matter is
composed of very small things. It was the first complete attempt to describe all matter
in terms of particles. He called these particles atoms and formed an atomic theory. In
this theory he claims that:
• All matter is made of atoms. Atoms are indivisible and indestructible
• All atoms of a given element are identical in mass and properties
• Compounds are formed by a combination of two or more different kinds of atoms
• A chemical reaction is a rearrangement of atoms
Thomson's Model
After the electron was discovered by J.J. Thomson in 1897, it was realised that atoms
were made up of even smaller particles than they had previously thought. However, the
atomic nucleus had not been discovered yet and so the “plum pudding model” or the
“watermelon model” was put forward in 1904.

In this model, the atom is made up of negative electrons that float in a “soup” of positive
charge, much like plums in a pudding or raisins in a fruit cake. But, even with the Plum
Pudding Model, there was still no understanding of how these electrons in the atom
were arranged.
Rutherford’s Gold foil Experiment
• Rutherford took a gold foil which was 1000 atoms thick for the experiment.
• Fast moving alpha (𝛼) particles were made to fall on this thin gold foil.
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• Alpha (𝛼) particles are doubly charge helium atoms. They have a charge of +2
and mass of 4u (amu).

• Observations and Conclusions from Gold-foil Experiment:

Observation Conclusion
Most of the 𝛼 particles passed straight Most of the space inside an atom is
through the gold foil. empty.
Some of the 𝛼 particles got deflected by Positive charge of the atom occupies
small angles. very little space because positively
charged 𝛼 particle could only be
deflected from positive charge of the
atom.
Out of every 12000 𝛼 particles, a particle All the positive charge and most of the
was rebound by 180°. mass of the atom was concentrated in a
very small volume within the atom.

Rutherford's model
His new model introduced nucleus to the atom theory whose size is very small as
compared to the size of the atom. The model described the atom as a tiny, dense,
positively charged core called a nucleus surrounded by lighter, negatively charged
electrons.

His model is sometimes known as the planetary model of the atom.

Drawbacks:
If electrons revolve around the nucleus in an atom, they will undergo acceleration
similar to any orbiting particle. Since electrons are charged, they would radiate energy
when accelerated. This will decrease the radius of their circular path. This means an
electron will eventually orbit the nucleus in a spiral path and will collide with the
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nucleus. If this happens then none of the atom should be stable. But we see that atoms
are quite stable.

Bohr’s Model:

• Bohr’s model is based on the quantum physics i.e. quantization of energy.

• This model is similar to the planetary model in which electron revolves around
the nucleus in the specific orbit.

➢ In order to overcome the drawbacks of the Rutherford’s model, Neil Bohr put
forward some postulates about the structure of an atom.

➢ These postulates are as follows:

• Only certain special orbits are allowed inside an atom. These orbits are known as
discrete orbits.
• Electrons are considered to not radiate any energy while in a discrete orbit.
• These orbits are also called energy levels and are either represented by letters K,
L, M, N……. or by numbers 1, 2, 3, 4….

Bohr and Bury Rules for Electron Distribution in different Orbits:

➢ The maximum number of electrons that can be accommodated in an orbit is given by

the formula 2𝑛2, where n is the number of the orbit.

➢ The maximum number of electrons in the outermost orbit can accommodate is 8.

➢ The outer orbits cannot accommodate any electron if the inner ones are empty. This
means that the electrons are filled in the orbits in a step wise manner.

Quantum Model
In 1926 Erwin Schrödinger, an Austrian physicist, took the Bohr atom model one step
further.
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Schrödinger used mathematical equations to describe the likelihood of finding an

electron in a certain position. This atomic model is known as the quantum mechanical
model of the atom.
Unlike the Bohr model, the quantum mechanical model does not define the exact path of
an electron, but rather, predicts the odds of the location of the electron. This model can
be portrayed as a nucleus surrounded by an electron cloud. Where the cloud is most
dense, the probability of finding the electron is greatest, and conversely, the electron is
less likely to be in a less dense area of the cloud. Thus, this model introduced the
concept of sub-energy levels.

Comparison with the Bohr model

• The Bohr model was a one-dimensional model that used one quantum number to
describe the distribution of electrons in the atom. The only information that was
important was the size of the orbit, which was described by the n quantum
number.
• Schrodinger's model allowed the electron to occupy three-dimensional space. It
therefore required three coordinates, or three quantum numbers, to describe the
orbitals in which electrons can be found.
• The three coordinates that come from Schrodinger's wave equations are the
principal (n), angular (l), and magnetic (m) quantum numbers. These quantum
numbers describe the size, shape, and orientation in space of the orbitals on an
atom.

Orbital Theory (Quantum number Theory):

In atomic theory and quantum mechanics, an atomic orbital is a mathematical function
that describes the wave-like behaviour of either one electron or a pair of electrons in an
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atom. This function can be used to calculate the probability of finding any electron of an
atom in any specific region around the atom's nucleus.

Each orbital is denoted by a number and a letter.

The number denotes the energy level of the electron in the orbital. Thus 1 refers to the
energy level closest to the nucleus; 2 refers to the next energy level further out, and so
on.
The letter refers to the shape of the orbital. The letters go in the order s, p, d, f, etc.
The number of electrons needed to fill s, p, d, and f subshells are 2, 6, 10, 14,
respectively.

Terms related to Atom

Atomic Radius
The atomic radius of a chemical element is a measure of the size of its atoms, usually the
mean or typical distance from the centre of the nucleus to the boundary of the
surrounding shells of electrons. Since the boundary is not a well-defined physical entity,
there are various non-equivalent definitions of atomic radius.
Valency
➢ The number of electrons in the outermost orbit of an atom is known as its valence
electrons.
➢ The combining capacity of an atom, that is, their tendency to react and form
molecules with other atoms is called the valency of the atom.
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➢ If the outermost orbit contains ≤4 electrons in their outermost shell, then their
valence number is equal to their valency.
➢ If the valence electrons of some atoms are greater than 4, it is subtracted by 8 to
obtain the valency of the atom.
➢ Atoms whose outermost orbit is fully filled, that is, contains 8 electrons, then that
atom is said to achieve octet. These atoms cannot react with other atoms as their
valency becomes zero. These types of atoms are known as inert atoms.
➢ Atoms always react and bond in a manner to achieve octet that is to become inert.