3.1.1 - Atomic Structure Flashcards
Relative mass for an electron
1/1840
What letter represents the mass number?
A
What letter represents the atomic number?
Z
What holds electrons and protons together in atom?
Electrostatic forces of attraction
Why is the strong nuclear force stronger than electrostatic forces?
It overcomes repulsion between protons in nucleus
What decides the chemical properties of an element?
The number & arrangement of electrons
Why do isotopes have the same chemical properties? (2)
They have same electron configuration and the chemical properties depend on electrons
Isotopes have ___ _____ physical properties
slight different physical properties
Why do isotopes have slight different physical properties?
Physical properties depend on mass of atom
19th century: What did John Dalton say atoms were?
- Solid spheres
- Different spheres made different elements
- All atoms of an element have the same mass
1897: What did J.J. Thomson discover and what did it show?
- Discovered the electron
- Showed atoms weren’t solid and indivisible
- (Model known as ‘plum pudding model’ - negative electrons embedded in a positive ball of charge)
1909 - Ernest Rutherford: What did he find out?
Conducted the golden foil experiment:
- Fired positively charged alpha particles at a very thin sheet of gold
- Particles passed straight through gold & only small no. of particles were deflected backwards (pulm pudding model said = alpha particles would be deflected by the positive ‘pudding’ in atom)
- = developed into nuclear model of atom
- Tiny positive nucleus surrounded by ‘cloud’ of negative electrons - most of atom is empty space
What was Niels Bohr’s model & discovery?
- Model: where electrons exist in shells or orbits of fixed energy
- Discovered: When electrons move between shells, electromagnetic radiation (with fixed energy or frequency) is emitted/absorbed
What have modern day scientists discovered & so what did they do?
- Electrons in same shell ≠ same energy
- Bohr model = wrong ∴ they refined it & added sub-shells
- (Isn’t perfect model but it’s simple and explains many experimental observations e.g. bonding & ionisation energy trends)
Define Relative Isotopic Mass
Mass of an atom of an isotope of an element on a scale where an atom of carbon-12 is 12
Define Relative Molecular Mass (Mr)
Average mass of a molecule on a scale where an atom of carbon-12 is 12
What does a mass spectrometer do and how?
- It determines the mass of separate atoms (or molecules)
- Works by forming ions from sample and then separating them according to the ratio of their charge to their mass
Name the 6 things that happen when a sample is squirted into time of flight (TOF) mass spectrometer
- Vacuum
- Ionisation
- Acceleration
- Ion Drift
- Detection
- Data Analysis
Describe the step vacuum in mass spectrometry (TOF)
Whole apparatus is kept under a vacuum to prevent ions produced from colliding with air molecules
Name the two ways you can ionise your sample in mass spectrometry (TOF)
2 methods:
- Electrospray ionisation
- Electron impact ionisation
Describe the method electrospray ionisation
- A high voltage is applied to a sample in a polar solvent
- Sample molecule, M, gains a proton forming MH+
Describe the method electron impact ionisation
- Sample is bombarded by high energy electrons
- Sample molecule loses an electron = become +1 ions (M+)
Describe the step acceleration in mass spectrometry (TOF)
Positively charged ions are accelerated by an electric field (attracted to negatively charged plate) so = they all have same kinetic energy
Describe the step ion drift in mass spectrometry (TOF)
- Ions enter region with no electric field so they just drift through it
- Lighter ions will drift faster than heavier ions
Describe the step detection in mass spectrometry (TOF) & state how abundance is measured
- Lighter ions travel at higher speeds = reach detector in less time than heavier ions
- Positive ions collected at detector
- Causing current to flow / detected electrically
- Abundance measured: idea that current depends on number of ions hitting detector
Describe the step data analysis in mass spectrometry (TOF)
Signal from detector is sent to a computer which generates a mass spectrum
What does the y-axis of mass spectrum represent?
Abundance of ions
What does the height of each peak give on the mass spectrum?
Relative isotopic abundance