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The Atom
This stuff about atoms and elements should be ingrained in your brain from GCSE. You do need to
know it perfectly though if you are to negotiate your way through the field of man-eating tigers and
pesky atoms...

Atoms are made up of Protons, Neutrons and Electrons

Atoms are the stuff all elements and compounds are made of.
They’re made up of 3 types of subatomic particle — protons, neutrons and electrons.

Electrons Nucle
1) Electrons have –1 us Most of the mass of the atom
charge. p n
n n
1) is concentrated in the nucleus.
p
2) They whizz around p n 2 The diameter of the nucleus is
the nucleus in ) rather titchy compared to the
orbitals. 3 whole atom.
) The nucleus is where you

The mass and charge of these subatomic particles are tiny, so relative mass and relative charge are
used instead.
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Subatomic Relative mass Relative charge

|
| | | | | | | | The mass of an |
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electron
negligible is compared

|
| | | | | | |
particle
to a or a neutron —
proton
Proton 1 +1 this you can usually
means
|
|ignore
| | | | | | it.
| |
Neutron 1 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
||
|
|

Electron, e– 0.0005 –1

Nuclear Symbols Show Numbers of Subatomic Particles

You can figure out the number of protons, neutrons and electrons from the
nuclear symbol, which is found in the periodic table.

Mass number
A
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X
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This tells you the total number Element symbol |
|
Sometimes the atomic
| | | | | | | | | |
|
|
of number
left out isof the nuclear

| | | | | | | | | |
protons and neutrons in the e.g.7 You don’t really
symbol,
nucleus. Z itLi.because the element’s
need
|
symboltells you its
value.
Atomic (proton)
number | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
| |
1) This is the number of protons in the nucleus — it identifies the element.
2) All atoms of the same element have the same number of protons.

1) For neutral atoms, which have no overall charge, the number of electrons is the same as the
number of protons.
2) The number of neutrons is just mass number minus atomic |number,
|
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To work out the number of |
i.e. ‘top minus bottom’ in the nuclear symbol. | | | | | | |
each particle present in a
subatomic
|
| | | | | | | |

molecule,
just work out how many there
Nuclea Atomic Mass are inatom and then add them
Protons Electrons Neutrons | each
r number, number, |
| | | |all
| | up.
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|
symbo Z A | |

l
7
Li 3 7 3 3 7–3=4
3
19
9F 9 19 9 9 19 – 9 = 10
24
12 Mg 12 24 12 12 24 – 12 = 12

Ions have Different Numbers of Protons and Electrons “Hello, I’m Newt Ron...”
Negative ions have more electrons than
protons... ...and positive ions have fewer electrons than
protons. 5
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Isotopes of an element are atoms with the same number of protons but different
numbers of neutrons. Chlorine-35 and chlorine-37 are examples of isotopes:

35 – 17 = 18 Different mass numbers mean different 37 – 17 = 20

neutrons masses and different numbers of neutrons

35
1 C neutrons.
The atomic numbers are the same.
37
1 C
7
l
1) It’s the number and arrangement of electrons that decides the chemical properties of an element.
Isotopes have the same configuration of electrons (see pages 10-11), so they’ve got the same
7
l
chemical properties.
2) Isotopes of an element do have slightly different physical properties though, such as
different densities, rates of diffusion, etc. This is because physical properties tend to
depend more on the mass of the atom.
Here’s another example — naturally | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
occurring magnesium consists of 3 |
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The periodic table gives the atomic
|
|
|
number

| | | | | | | | | | | |
isotopes. for each element. The other number

| | | | | | | | | | | |
isn’t
massthe number — it’s the relative atomic
24 25 26
Mg (79%) Mg (10%) Mg (11%) mass
(see page 6). They’re a bit different,
12 protons 12 protons 12 protons but
canyou often assume they’re equal — it
doesn’t
12 neutrons 13 neutrons 14 neutrons
| matter unless you’re doing really accurate |
12 electrons 12 electrons 12 electrons
|
work.
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Practice Questions
Q1 Draw a diagram showing the structure of an atom, labelling each part.
Q2 Where is the mass concentrated in an atom, and what makes up most of the volume of an atom?
Q3 Draw a table showing the relative charge and relative mass of the three subatomic particles
found in atoms. Q4 Using an example, explain the terms ‘atomic number’ and ‘mass number’.
Exam Questions
Q1 Hydrogen, deuterium and tritium are all isotopes of each other.

a) Identify one similarity and one difference between these isotopes. [2 marks]

b) Deuterium can be written as 12H. Determine the number of protons,

neutrons and electrons in a deuterium atom. [1 mark]

c) Write the nuclear symbol for tritium, given that it has 2 neutrons. [1 mark]
32 2-
Q2 This question relates to the atoms or ions A to D: A 16 S B 40
18Ar
30
C 16S D 42
20Ca

a) Identify the similarity for each of the following pairs, justifying your answer in each case.

i) A and B. [1 mark]

ii) A and C. [1 mark]

iii) B and D. [1 mark]

b) Which two of the atoms or ions are isotopes of each other? Explain your reasoning. [2 marks]
1 16 12
Q3 A molecule of propanol, C3H7 OH, is made up of 1 H, 8O and 6C atoms.
Calculate the number of electrons, protons and neutrons in one molecule of propanol. [2 marks]

Got it learned yet? — Isotope so...

This is a nice page to ease you into things. Remember that positive ions have fewer electrons than
protons, and negative ions have more electrons than protons. Get that straight in your mind or you’ll
end up in a right mess.
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Mass spectra are produced by mass spectrometers — devices which are used to find out what
samples
are made up of by measuring the masses of their components. Mass spectra can tell us dead useful
things,
e.g. the relative isotopic masses and abundances of different elements.
Mass spectra can be used to work out the relative atomic masses of different elements.

This is the mass spectra for chlorine. 10 |

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0 |
| | | | | | | | This spectrum shows
||
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The y-axis gives the 75.5 that exists as 2
chlorine
|
| | | | | | | |

% abundance Cl
abundance of ions, often as a 8 % isotopes.
75.5% of chlorine 3
percentage. For an element, the 6 Cl
0 is and 24.5% 3 Cl5
height of each peak gives the
|
|
7 ,
| | | |is
| | |
4 .
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

isotopes
|
relative isotopic abundance. 0 24.5
||

%
The x-axis units are given as a ‘m/z’ 2
value, which is a mass/charge ratio. 0
Since the charge on the ions is mostly 34 35 36 37
38
+1, you can often assume the x-axis is
m/z

The method for working out the relative atomic mass from a graph is a bit
different to working it out from percentages (see previous page), but it starts
off in the same way.

Step Mass Spectrum of

Ne
114.
0

Exampl Use the data from this mass spectrum to work out the

abundance
e: relative atomic mass of neon. Give your answer to 1

Relative
decimal place.
Step 1: (20 × 114.0) + (21 × 0.2) + (22 ×
11.2) = 2530.6 11.
1: Multiply each relative isotopic mass by its 0. 2
Step 2: (114.0 + 0.2 + 11.2 = 125.4) 2
20 21
2530.6 ÷ 125.4 = 20.2
m/z

Practice Questions
Q1 Explain what relative atomic mass (Ar) and relative isotopic mass mean.
Q2 Explain the difference between relative molecular mass
and relative formula mass. Q3 Explain what relative isotopic
abundance means.

Exam Questions

Q1 Copper exists in two main isotopic forms, 63Cu and 65Cu.

Mass Spectrum of Cu
Relative abundance

a) Calculate the relative atomic mass of copper using the information 120.8
from the mass spectrum. [2 marks]

b) Explain why the relative atomic mass of copper is not a whole number. [2 marks] 54.0

Q2 The percentage make-up of naturally occurring potassium is:

93.1% 39K, 0.120% 40K and 6.77% 41K.
61 63 65 67
Use the information to determine the relative atomic mass of potassium. [2 marks] m/z
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