The Atom Flashcards
What are atoms the basis of?
All chemistry.
What are all elements made up of?
Atoms.
What are atoms made up of?
Three types of particles.
What are the three types of subatomic particles atoms are made up of?
- Protons
- Neutrons
- Electrons
How are protons, neutrons and electrons arranged in the atom?
image.
What do the electrons do?
They whiz around the nucleus in orbitals.
What do the orbitals take up?
Most of the volume of the atom.
What is concentrated in the nucleus?
Most of the mass of the atom, even though the diameter of the nucleus is small compared to the whole atom
What do you find in the nucleus?
- Protons
* Neutrons
What is the relative mass of a proton?
1
What is the relative mass of a neutron?
1
What is the relative mass of an electron?
1/2000
What is the relative charge of a proton?
+1
What is the relative charge of a neutron?
0
What is the relative charge of an electron?
-1
How do you find the mass number and the atomic (proton) number of an element from the periodic table?
By looking at the element’s nuclear symbol, e.g.
image.
What is the mass number?
The total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom.
What is the atomic number?
The number of protons in the nucleus of an atom (or electrons).
What does the atomic (proton) number do?
It identifies the element.
What do all atoms of the same element have?
The same number of protons.
What do neutral atoms have?
No overall charge.
Why do neutral atoms have no overall charge?
Because the number of electrons is the same as the number of protons.
How do you find the number of neutrons?
Mass number minus atomic number (top number minus bottom number in the nuclear symbol).
What can atoms form?
Ions.
How do atoms form ions?
By gaining or losing electrons.
What are the two types of ions?
- Positive ions.
* Negative ions.
How is a positive ion formed?
When an atom loses electrons meaning there are more protons than electrons which create a positive charge.
How is a negative ion formed?
When an atom gains electrons meaning there are less protons than electrons which create a negative charge.
What are isotopes?
Atoms with the same number of protons but different number of neutrons.
What decides the chemical properties of an element?
The number and arrangement of the electrons.
What do both elements and their isotopes have?
The same configuration of electrons, so they have the same chemical properties
What is different between elements and their isotopes?
Their physical properties (e.g. rates of diffusion and densities).
Why are the physical properties of elements different than their isotopes?
Because physical properties depend on the mass number.
