Chemistry

Unit 2: Atoms and Elements

Lesson 1: Modeling Atomic
Structure
Standards: HS-PS1-1
HS-PS1-8
• Content Objective:
• Introduce atomic numbers, mass numbers and isotopes to
describe the structure of atoms

• Language Objective:
SWBAT define atomic numbers, mass numbers and isotopes

• Success Criteria:
I can calculate number of neutrons from the mass number
and atomic number
Vocabulary
1. Atomic Number
2. Isotope
3. Valence Electrons
 Unit 2 Lesson 1

Mindful Minute ( 5 min )

What are atomic numbers, isotopes and mass numbers ?

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 Unit 2 Lesson 1

Atomic Number and Mass Number

One way that scientists identify atoms is by the number of

protons in the nucleus.

The number of protons in an atom’s nucleus is called the

atomic number.

Each element has a certain number of protons, so this

means the atomic number of an atom corresponds to a
• . specific element.

If the atomic number changes, the element has a different

identity. For example, the elements magnesium, aluminum,
and zinc—have atomic numbers of 12, 13, and 30
respectively
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Atomic Number and Mass Number
• The atomic number is a handy number because it is also tells you the
number of electrons in a neutral atom. Because atoms do not have a
charge, the positive charges from the protons and the negative charges
from the electrons must be the same.

• Thus, if you know the atomic number of an atom, you not only know
the number of protons but also the number of electrons. So
magnesium, aluminum, and zinc have 12, 13, and 30 electrons
respectively.

• Another way scientists describe atoms is with the mass number. The
mass number is equal to the total number of protons and neutrons in
an atom’s nucleus. Therefore, you can find the number of neutrons in an
atom by subtracting the atomic number from the mass number for that
atom.

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Think – Pair – Share ( 3 min )

• The element aluminum has an atomic number of 13

and a mass number of 27

• The number of protons in the nucleus of an

aluminum atom is ?

• The number of neutrons in the nucleus of Aluminum

is ?

• The number of electrons in the Aluminum atom ?

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 Isotopes
• Atoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons are
called isotopes.

• Different isotopes of the same element have the same number of

protons and electrons, but each isotope has a different number of
neutrons

• Scientists refer to isotopes of elements in different ways. An isotope may

be identified by writing the mass number as a superscript and the atomic
number as a subscript to the left of the chemical symbol.

• Scientists might also write the mass number after the name of the
element such as uranium-235 and uranium-238 for the isotopes.

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Differentiated Tasks ( 10 min )

• Group 1
• Solve the missing the table in the following slide in your notebooks
• Group 2
For each of the following isotopes, write the number of protons,
neutrons, and electrons. Assume all atoms are neutral.
Chromium-58 Chromium-63 Carbon-12 Carbon-13 Carbon-14

# of protons # of protons

# of neutrons # of neutrons

# of electrons # of
electrons

• Group 3:
Research an element of their choice and create a canvaas that includes its
atomic number, mass number, common isotopes, and uses in everyday life.
• SOD
• 9Worksheets on Schoology
G1 Solve this table in your
notebook
Symbol: Sr P

Atomic #: 20

protons: 16

electrons: 15

neutrons: 50 20

Mass #: 33 31
Exit Ticket ( 5 min )

• On your padlet, explain how you can

determine the number of protons, neutrons
and electrons from a given isotope

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• Content Objective:
• Explore average atomic mass calculations

• Language Objective:
SWBAT calculate average atomic masses and relate it to the
abundance of each isotope

• Success Criteria:
I can calculate average atomic masses of isotopes
Mindful Minute – 5 min

• On Microsoft forms answer the below

questions

• What do you notice about the atomic

mass on the periodic table? Why is it a
decimal and not a whole number?”

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 Unit 2 Lesson 1

Average Atomic Mass

• The atomic mass shown on the periodic table for an element is an
average atomic mass that accounts for all of the isotopes of that
element.

• When calculating the atomic mass of a typical sample of an

element, the relative abundance of each isotope must be taken
into account.

• For example, carbon has two naturally occurring isotopes—carbon-

12 and carbon-13. Carbon-12 has an atomic mass of exactly 12 u
and a relative abundance of 98.89%. This means that a naturally
occurring sample of carbon will be made up of 98.89% carbon-12.
Carbon-13 has an atomic mass of 13.003 35 u and a relative
abundance of 1.11%.

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 Average Atomic Mass Calculations
• To calculate the average atomic mass of an element, the exact atomic mass
for each isotope is multiplied by the isotope’s relative abundance (in
decimal form), and the products are summed. This gives an average
atomic mass, which is a more accurate measure of the mass of a typical,
real-world sample of an element. The following equation can be used to
calculate the average atomic mass of carbon.

• Average atomic mass of C = (12 u × 0.9889) + (13.003 35 u × 0.0111) =

12.0111 u

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Think – Pair – Share ( 5 min )

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 Differentiated Tasks ( 15 min )
• Group 1:
• Chlorine has two isotopes. Chlorine-35 has an actual mass of 34.9689 u
and chlorine-37 has a mass of 36.9659 u. In any sample of chlorine atoms,
75.771% will be chlorine-35 and 24.229% will be chlorine 37. Calculate
the average atomic mass of chlorine.

• Copper has two isotopes. Copper-63, which has an atomic mass of 62.93 u
and copper-65, which has an atomic mass of 64.93 u. In any sample of
copper atoms, 69.1% will be copper-63 and 30.9% will be copper-65.
Calculate the average atomic mass of naturally occurring copper.

• Group 2:
• Worksheet on Schoology
• Group 3:
• Worksheet on Schoology

• SOD
• https://www.liveworksheets.com/w/en/science/1586671
• https://www.liveworksheets.com/w/en/science/7244845
17
Exit Ticket ( 5 min )

• Write the formula of calculating Average

Atomic Mass with respect to the percent
abundance on Padlet

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• Content Objective:
• Explore patterns in the periodic table to model the
patterns of outer electron states of atoms of different
elements.

• Language Objective:
SWBAT determine the number of electrons in subshells of
different of atoms of different elements

• Success Criteria:
I can determine and calculate the number of valence
electrons of given elements
 Unit 2 Lesson 1

Mindful Minute ( 5 min )

On Microsoft Forms explain the below scenario

Hydrogen has one electron, which is located in the first energy

shell. Helium has two electrons in the first energy shell.
Lithium has three electrons—two in the first energy shell and
one in the second.

How might this pattern be related to the fact that hydrogen and
lithium are both reactive, but helium is nonreactive?

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Electron Shells and Orbitals

• Regions within each energy shell where electrons have a high

probability of being found are called subshells ( s,p,d,f)

• Each subshell contains orbitals of different shapes.

• An orbital can hold up to two electrons. The first subshell, called 1s,
has the lowest energy and contains one orbital that is spherical in
shape

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• The second energy shell has two subshells, labeled s and p. The p
subshell has three orbitals, as shown in Figure 15b.

• Each of these orbitals can hold two electrons. So, the second energy shell
can hold a total of 8 electrons, with 2 in the s subshell and 6 in the p
subshell.

• The third energy shell has three subshells, s, p, and d. The d subshell has
five orbitals and can therefore hold 10 electrons.

• The fourth energy shell has four subshells, s, p, d, and f. The f subshell
has seven orbitals and can therefore hold 14 electrons.

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Think – Pair - Share

• What is the maximum number of electrons in an s

subshell?

• What is the maximum number of electrons in a p

subshell?

• What is the maximum number of electrons in an d

subshell?

• What is the maximum number of electrons in a f

subshell?

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 Valence Electrons
• Figure 16 shows the subshells that electrons occupy for the elements
hydrogen through helium. The 1s subshell holds 2 electrons, and is filled
first. The 2s subshell is filled next, followed by 2p. Each energy shell must
be full before electrons begin filling the next energy shell. For example,
the second energy shell must be full, with 2 electrons in the 2s subshell
and 6 electrons in 2p subshell, before electrons begin filling the third
energy shell. The electrons occupying the outermost energy shell are
called valence electrons.

• For example, oxygen has 2 electrons in the 2s subshell and 4 electrons

in the 2p subshell, so it has 6 valence electrons, or 6 total electrons in
the outermost energy shell.

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Check Understanding ( 5 min )

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• Group 1 Differentiated Tasks
• What are valence electrons?
• List the elements that have one valence electron.
• Identify the group in the periodic table where elements have eight
valence electrons and state which are the elements

• Group 2
• Compare the number of valence electrons in alkali metals and noble
gases.
• Summarize how the number of valence electrons affects an element's
reactivity.
• Classify the following elements based on their valence electrons: Carbon,
Sodium, Chlorine, and Magnesium

• Group 3
• Worksheet on Schoology
• SOD
https://www.liveworksheets.com/w/en/physical-science/1446312
https://www.liveworksheets.com/w/en/physical-science/2271182
Exit Ticket

•On Padlet, Define valence

electrons and determine how
many orbitals does s,p,d and f
subshells have

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