Module 2: Chapter 2 - Atoms, Ions, and Compounds Flashcards
What is the relative charge of a proton?
+1
What is the relative charge of an electron?
-1
What is the relative charge of a neutron?
0
What is the relative mass of a proton?
1
What is the relative mass of an electron?
1/1836
What is the relative mass of a neutron?
1
What is the atomic number?
The number of protons in the nucleus of an atom
What is the mass number?
The sum of the protons and the neutrons in the nucleus of an atom
Why is an atom neutral?
Because the number of protons is equal to the number of electrons
What are isotopes?
Isotopes are atoms of the same element and therefore contain the same number of protons but contain a different number of neutrons and therefore have different mass numbers
What are ions?
Charged particles formed when atoms gain or lose electrons to gain stability
What is relative isotopic mass?
The mass of an atom compared (relative) with 1/12th the mass of carbon-12
What is relative atomic mass, Ar?
The weighted mean average mass of an atom of an element compared with 1/12th the mass of an atom of carbon-12
What is a mass spectrometer?
An analytical piece of equipment used to find relative abundances of isotopes in a sample of an element
Explain how mass spectroscopy works
The sample enters the spectrometer and is vaporised. An electron beam is fired at the sample to knock out an electron from each atom, ionising the sample to form 1+ positive ions. The ions are accelerated by an electric field towards a negatively charged plate. The ions are allowed to drift through the flight tube through a magnetic field which separates the isotopes according to mass (lighter ions are accelerated and deflected the most). They are detected when the ions arrive at the detector. This feeds a signal into a computer which produces a graph of the relative abundance of ions against the mass to charge ratio
What is the graph produced by a mass spectrometer called?
Mass spectrum/spectra
Describe a mass spectrum
It has relative abundance % on the y axis and the mass to charge ratio on the x axis
35 = ³⁵Cl⁺
37 = ³⁷Cl⁺
70 = (³⁵Cl-³⁵Cl)⁺
72 = (³⁵Cl-³⁷Cl)⁺
74 = (³⁷Cl-³⁷Cl)⁺
What is the international standard for the measurement of relative mass?
1/12th the mass of an atom of carbon-12
What is the unit of atomic mass?
Unified atomic mass unit, amu
What is the role of neutrons?
Neutrons help to keep a nucleus stable by moderating the repulsive forces between the protons in the nucleus
What is the symbol for mass number?
A