Topic 2.1: The nuclear atom Flashcards
Atom regions
a) Nucleus
b) Electron shells
Subatomic particles
a) Proton
b) Electron
c) Neutron
Proton
a) Relative mass
b) Relative charge
c) Location
a) 1 AMU
b) +1
c) Nucleus
Electron
a) Relative mass
b) Relative charge
c) Location
a) 1 / 2000 AMU
b) -1
c) Outside the nucleus in the electron cloud
Neutron
a) Relative mass
b) Relative charge
c) Location
a) 1 AMU
b) 0
c) Nucleus
Proportion of the nucleus to atom size
The nucleus is very small compared with the total size of the atom
Atomic number (Z)
a) # Protons of an atom
b) Same atomic number for all the elements.
Overall charge of an atom is zero and therefore…
p = # e
Mass number (A)
Protons + # Neutrons
Ions
Charge particles that are formed when an atom loses or gains electrons.
Isotopes
Atoms of the same element with different mass numbers
Chemical and physical properties of isotopes of the same element
a) Same chemical properties due to the same number and arrangement of e-
b) Different physical properties to the difference in mass
Radioactive isotopes
a) Iodine - 131
b) Iodine - 125
c) Cobalt - 60
d) Carbon - 14
Iodine - 131
Treatment of thyroid cancer
Iodine - 125
Treatment of prostate cancer and brain tumours
Cobalt - 60
Treat cancer
Carbon - 14
Dating of cosmic, geological, and archaelogical matter
Working of Carbon - 14
a) Undergo decay to form nitrogen, emitting beta particles (electrons) in the process
b) Gradual decrease every 5730 years in the ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 in the organism’s body.
Relative atomic mass
Weighted mean mass of all the naturally occurring isotopes of the element relative to one-twelfth of the mass of carbon-12
Mass spectrometer function
Determine the relative atomic mass of an element
Mass spectrometer process
a) Vaporization
b) Ionization
c) Acceleration
d) Deflection
e) Detection
Mass spectrometer results
Plot of relative abundance of each isotope versus m/z
