Atoms

Question 1

What is an atom?

Answer 1

The defining structure of an element

Question 2

How are atoms structured?

Answer 2

A nucleus made up of protons and neutrons, which is orbited by electrons.

Question 3

What does the number of protons in an atom tell you?

Answer 3

The number of protons tells you what kind of atom it is.

Question 4

What is the nucleus made up of?

Answer 4

Positively-charged protons and uncharged neutrons.

Question 5

How do electrons act?

Answer 5

Electrons orbit the nucleus in a nice orderly fashion, electrons stay within a certain electron ‘shell’.

Question 6

How do electrons and protons interact?

Answer 6

Negatively-charged electrons are attracted tō positively-charged protons (electrostatic attraction).

Question 7

Explain electrostatic attraction.

Answer 7

Electrostatic attraction is the attractive forces holding atoms together. It allows them to exist in compact structures.

Question 8

How do electrons orbit?

Answer 8

Electrons orbit in specific rings called ‘electron shells’. All the electrons stick to their own path as they travel around the nucleus.

Question 9

How many electrons can each shell hold?

Answer 9

The first shell holds 2, the second and third shells hold up to 8 electrons.

Question 10

How many protons and electrons are there in an atom?

Answer 10

In a normal atom there are equal numbers of protons and electrons.

Question 11

Why are atoms neutral?

Answer 11

They have the same amount of positive and negative charges.

Question 12

How many protons and neutrons does Nitrogen have?

Answer 12

Nitrogen is number 7 in the periodic table so it has 7 protons and 7 electrons.

Question 13

How do electrons fit into an atom?

Answer 13

They start by filling up the first electron shell, and when that’s full they’ll fill up the second electron shell, and so on.

Question 14

What is an electron shell?

Answer 14

An electron shell is an organised group of electrons orbiting the nucleus.

Question 15

Do all atoms have the same amount of electron shells and electrons?

Answer 15

No, different atoms have different numbers of electron shells and electrons within in each shell.

Question 16

What is the electron configuration?

Answer 16

The number of electrons in each shell.

Question 17

How many protons, neutrons and electrons does Carbon have?

Answer 17

6 protons, 6 neutrons and 6 electrons.

Question 18

What is the electron configuration of Carbon?

Answer 18

(2,4)

Question 19

How many protons, neutrons and electrons does Sodium have?

Answer 19

11 protons, 11 neutrons and 11 electrons.

Question 20

What is the electron configuration of Sodium (Na)?

Answer 20

(2,8,1)

Question 21

What is the electron configuration for Oxygen (O)?

Answer 21

(2,4)

Question 22

What is a chemical symbol?

Answer 22

A shortened version of the name for each element.

Question 23

What is the atomic number?

Answer 23

It tells you what the number of protons is. It is found in the top left corner of each square in the periodic table.

Question 24

What is the mass number?

Answer 24

It tells you how many particles are in the nucleus. This protons + neutrons.

Question 25

How can you work out the number of neutrons?

Answer 25

Neutrons = mass number - atomic number.

Question 26

What are the rows in a periodic table called?

Answer 26

Periods

Question 27

What are the columns in periodic tables called?

Answer 27

Groups

Question 28

How can you use the periods in a periodic table to work out the number of electron shells?

Answer 28

By counting the number of periods, you can work out the number of electron shells the atoms have. All the atoms in the second period have 2 electron shells.

Question 29

How can you use the groups in a periodic table to work out the number of electrons in the outer shell?

Answer 29

By counting the groups, you can work out the number of electrons in the very outer shell. All the atoms in Group 1 have 1 electron in their last shell.

Question 30

What is the trick for the elements in Groups 13-18 of the periodic table?

Answer 30

Remember to minus the 10 from the group number to get the valence number.

Question 31

What is a valence electron?

Answer 31

Valence electrons are electrons in the outermost shell of an atom.

Question 32

Calculate the number of protons, neutrons and electrons Lithium has?

Answer 32

P = 3
N = 4 (mass - atomic number, 7 - 3 = 4)
E = 3 ( P=E)

Question 33

Calculate the number of protons, neutrons and electrons Fluorine (F) has?

Answer 33

P = 9
N = 10 (19 - 9)
E = 9

Question 34

Calculate the number of protons, neutrons and electrons Magnesium (Mg) has?

Answer 34

P = 12
N = 12 (24 - 12)
E = 12

Question 35

How do you calculate the number of protons an element has using its atomic number?

Answer 35

The number of protons in an atom is equal to the atomic number of the element.

Question 36

How do you calculate the number of electrons and neutrons an element has, using its atomic and mass numbers?

Answer 36

Number of electrons = atomic number.
Number of neutrons = mass number - atomic number.

Question 37

How many electrons are in the first three shells of an atom?

Answer 37

2, 8, 8

Question 38

Draw an atom, and label the key structural components of it.

Answer 38

Nucleus made up of protons and neutrons surrounded by electron shells.