Competency 3A - Structure of Atoms - Electrons

Question 1

Define electromagnetic radiation.

Answer 1

E.R. is energy that can pass through nothing. It has no mass, and different forms of E.R. vary based on its wavelength.

Question 2

Explain how properties of electromagnetic radiation (wavelength, frequency, and energy) tell us how electrons move in an atom (i.e. level and unpredictability).

Answer 2

You can tell the type of electromagnetic radiation based on its wavelength. The higher the wavelength means the higher the frequency, which means more energy was put into an electron, meaning that it moved further away from the nucleus. You can never know the exact location of electrons, but we know that these containers called orbital exist, and that they’re most likely in there.

Question 3

Explain how light comes form atoms (i.e. photon emission).

Answer 3

When an electron is given energy, it moves from ground zero to a higher energy level. However, the electron can’t stay at this level for a long time, so it moves back to ground zero and gives off a photon of light.

Question 4

Using a periodic table or an atomic symbol, count all the subatomic particles in an atom, an ion, or an isotope.

Answer 4

For this comp., all you really need to know is the number of electrons.

Assuming that the atom has a neutron charge, then it’s number of protons (as determined by its atomic number), should equal the number of electrons.

If the atom is an ion, which means it has a charge, then that should be specified for you. But if a Carbon atom has a -1 charge, then it must have an extra electron.

If the atom is an isotope, then that wouldn’t matter since you’d still look at the number of protons it has to know how many electrons it has.

Question 5

Describe how electrons behave in terms of:
a) Spin
b) Energy
and 
c) Movement & Location

Answer 5

a) Forget what you learned in 8th grade. Electrons don’t “spin” or “orbit” the nucleus.
b & c) The more energy an electron is given, the further away it will move away from the nucleus of its atom and the higher frequency wavelength it will emit.

Question 6

Explain how the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle describes the movement of electrons on the outside of an atom.

Answer 6

The exact location of an electron is unpredictable. However, we CAN know the probability of where the electron are as they are located in their orbitals, respectively.

Question 7

Using an atom’s electron configuration (i.e. regular or noble gas config.), describe what it tells you about where electrons are located for an atom.

Answer 7

An atom’s electron configuration will tell us where the electrons are in each orbital. There are the S orbitals (spherical-shaped), P orbitals (divided into Px, Py, and Pyz and are shaped like peanuts), and D orbitals that look like clovers or something.

Question 8

Define valence electrons and be able to count them for any atom.

Answer 8

Valence electrons are electrons on the outermost energy level of the atom. The rest are core electrons. Well…unless you’re Hydrogen, but that’s another story.