Elements Of Life Flashcards
Nucleus of the atom?
Most of the mass of the atom is concentrated in the nucleus.
The diameter of the nucleus is smaller compared to the whole atom.
The nucleus is where all the neutrons and protons are found.
Masses + Charge Of Protons, Neutrons + Electrons?
Proton - 1 (Mass), +1 (Charge),
Neutron - 1 (Mass), 0 (Charge),
Electron - 1/2000 (Mass), -1 (Charge).
Nuclear symbols?
This is basically what’s on the periodic table.
(But on a chemistry exam question, it may give you an example of a nuclear symbol and your expected to write it the same way as them).
- Mass number,
- Atomic number,
- Element number.
Neutral, negative and positive atoms?
For neutral atoms, which have no overall charge, the amount of protons should be the same as the electrons.
Negative ions have more electrons than protons.
Positive ions have more protons than electrons.
E.g. Mg2+ is a positive ion because it has lost 2 electrons and therefore has 2 more protons than electrons.
How has the current model of the atom developed?
- Ancient Greeks through that all matter was made from invisible particles.
- At the start of the 19th century, John Dalton described atoms as solid spheres, and said that different spheres made up different elements.
- Scientists did more experiments and our current model began to emerge our current model.
In 1897, J J Thomson did a series of experiments that concluded that atoms weren’t solid and invisible.
- He measured the charge and made and showed that an atom must contain smaller, negatively charged particles (electrons). He called electrons ‘corpuscles’.
- The idea of atoms being solid spheres. The new model was known as the ‘plum pudding model’ - positively charged sphere with negative electrons embedded everywhere in it.
How was the plum pudding model proved to be wrong?
Ernest Rutherford and students - Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden - 1909.
Conducted Geiger-Marsden experiment. They fired alpha particles (positively charged) at an extremely thin sheet of gold. It was expected that most of the particles would be deflected very slightly by the positive ‘pudding’ that made up most of the atom.
What actually happened? Most of the alpha particles passed straight through the gold atoms, and a very small number were deflected backward (more than 90 degrees).
This showed the plum pudding model couldn’t be right.
So Rutherford came up with a model that could explain this new evidence- the nuclear model of the atom.
Rutherfords model (the nuclear model) stated there is one positively charged nucleus and a cloud of freely orbiting negative electrons surrounded by empty space.
How was Rutherfords nuclear model proved wrong?
Henry Moseley discovered that the charge of the nucleus increased from one element to another in units of one.
This led Rutherford to investigate the nucleus further he discovered protons in the nucleus. The charges of the nuclei of different atoms could then be explained - atoms of different elements have different number of protons.
There was still one problem with the model - the nuclei of atoms were heavier than they would be if they just contained protons - this lead to the discovery of neutrons by James Chadwick.
The Bohr model?
Scientists realised that if the electrons were in a ‘cloud’, then they would spiral down into the nucleus, causing the atom to collapse.
Niels Bohr proposed a new model of the atom with four basic principles:
- Electrons can only exist in fixed orbits, or shells,
- Each shell has a fixed energy,
- When an electron moves between shells, electromagnetic radiation,
- Because the energy of shields is fixed, the radiation will have a fixed frequency.
The frequencies of radiation emitted and absorbed by atoms were already known from experiments. The Bohr model fitted these observations.
The Bohr model also explained why some elements (noble gases) are inert. It said that the shells of an atom can only hold fixed numbers of electrons, and that elements reactivity is due to electrons.
When an atom has full shells of electrons, it is stable and does not react.
What model of atomic structure do we use today?
The Bohr model is widely used to describe atoms because it’s simple and explains may experiments, like bonding and ionisation energy trends.
The most accurate model we have today involves complicated quantum mechanics. Basically, we never know what direction an electron is going in or where it is. But, we can say how likely it is to be at a particular point.
Electrons can act as waves as well as particles.
This model might be more accurate, but it’s harder to get your head around and visualise. It does explain some observations that can’t be accounted for by the Bohr model. We use whatever model is most useful.
Difference between empirical and molecular formula?
Empirical formula - gives the smallest whole number ratio of a time in a compound.
Molecular formula - gives to actual number of atom (ratio) in a molecule.
E.g. a molecule has the empirical formula C4H3O2. It’s molecular mass is 166. What is the molecular formula?
1. Work out Mr. Mr C4H3O2 = 83.
2. Molecular mass (so mass of atoms actually used in reaction) is 166. So do 166/83 = 2
3. Times everything in empirical formula by 2.
C8H6O4.
Relative Atomic Mass?
Ar.
The average relative isotopic mass of naturally occurring isotopes of an element, whilst taking into account their abundances. Masses of atoms are compared to Carbon-12.
Not usually a whole number because it is an average.
E.g. 35Cl and 37Cl - isotopic masses are 35 and 37. Relative atomic mass is 35.5.
Ar values have no units.
Calculation Ar?
Working out Ar:
You can do this normally by adding all the relative atomic mass values of the atoms. E.g. H2O = (1x2) + 16 = 18.
You can also do this using a mass spectrum diagram.
Times all the peak numbers (relative abundance) by the x-axis number that they align with. Then add them all.
Then divide this number by the total sum of all the peaks (which should be the total relative abundance).
Then times this all by 100.
Relative Masses Can Be Measured Using?
Using a mass spectrometer.
Mass spectrometers can tell you: relative atomic mass, relative molecular mass, relative isotopic abundance, molecular structure, and your horoscope.
How Does A Mass Spectrometer Work?
Steps Of How It Works:
1. Vaporisation - the sample is turned into a gas (vaporised) using an electrical heater.
- Ionisation - the gas particles are bombarded with high-energy electrons to ionise them. Electrons are knocked off the particles, leaving positive ions.
- Acceleration - the positive ions are accelerated by an electrical field.
- Detection - the time taken for the positive ions to reach the detector is measured. This depends on an ions mass and charge - light, highly charged ions will reach the detector first, whilst heavier ions with a smaller charge will take longer. For each sample analysed, a mass spectrum is produced.
How To Read A Mass Spectrum?
Y-axis - gives the abundance of ions, often as a percentage. For an element, the height of each peak gives the relative isotopic abundance. E.g. 35Cl has abundance of 75.5%.
If the sample is an element, each line on the graph will represent a different isotope of the element.
The X-axis units are given as a mass/charge ratio. Since the charge of ions is mostly +1, you can often assume the x-axis as simply the relative mass.
How Can Ar Be Worked Out From Mass Spectrum?
If relative abundance is given as a percentage:
1. For each peak, read the % relative isotopic abundance from the y-axis and the relative isotopic mass from the x-axis. Multiply these numbers together for each isotope.
- Add up these totals.
- Divide the total by 100 (because percentages were used).
If relative abundance is not given as a percentage:
1. For each peak, read the % relative isotopic abundance from the y-axis and the relative isotopic mass from the x-axis. Multiply these numbers together for each isotope.
- Add up these totals.
- Then, add up all of the relative abundance’s (the peak numbers) and add them together. Divide the total from step 1 by this number.
- (You can also work out relative isotopic abundance by timesing this number by 100 and giving the answer as a percentage).
Ions?
Ions have different numbers of protons and electrons (this number is usually the same).
Negative Ions - have more electrons than protons.
Positive Ions - have fewer electrons than protons.
Molar Mass?
The same as relative molecular mass.
How to balance equations?
Same number of atoms on both sides.
Equations can also use 1/2 to make some equations balance.
What Are Isotopes?
Atoms of the same element.
They have the same atomic number (number of protons - bottom number on periodic table).
They have different mass numbers (number of neutrons - top number on periodic table).
E.g. chlorine: Cl with 17 protons and 18 neutrons. Isotope of Cl with 17 protons and 20 neutrons.
Relative Isotopic Mass?
Always a whole number. Relative isotopic mass is the mass of an atom of an isotope on a scale where an atom of Carbon-12 is 12.
E.g. 35Cl and 37Cl - isotopic masses are 35 and 37. Relative atomic mass is 35.5.
Ionic equations?
Ionic equations only show the reacting ions in the reaction and the products that the reacting products form.
Ionic equations can only involve ions in solutions. So we don’t break down H2O into H+ and O- because H2O doesn’t dissolve in solutions.
- Balance the equation.
- Break up the equation into ions. E.g. HNO3 would split into H+ and NO3- (remember that H is always positive). We don’t break down anything that doesn’t dissolve in a solution, e.g. H2O.
- Cancel the ions that are repeated on both left and right side of the equations.
Once an ionic equation has been established, check the charges are balanced, as well as the atoms.
If the charges don’t balance, the equation is wrong.
E.g. ionic equation: H+ + OH- —> H2O
Net charge on left = +1 from H and -1 from OH so the net charge is 0. The net charge on the right side is also 0.
Number Of Moles Equation?
Moles = Number Of Particles You Have / Avogadro’s Constant
How Is Mol Calculated In Concentration?
Unit: mol dm-3.
Number Moles = Concentration x Volume (dm3)
If the volume is given in cm3, then we need to divide the volume by 100. This will give the units in dm3.