Pure Chemistry -

Atomic Structure
A Closer Look At An Atom
 What Makes Up an Atom?
Atoms are made up of 3 particles

- Protons
- Neutrons
- Electrons

These particles are called

Sub-Atomic Particles
 Charges of the Particles
• Protons are positively charged, and have a
charge of +1
• Neutrons are electrically neutral, and
hence have no charge
• Electrons are negatively charged, and
have a charge of -1
 Masses of the Particles
• The mass of a proton and a neutron
are approximately the same
• The mass of a proton is assigned a
value of 1
• The mass of a neutron is also
assigned a value of 1
• The mass of an electron is much
lesser than that of a proton or
neutron
Masses of Protons vs Neutrons

NEUTRON PROTON

A proton and a neutron have

approximately the same mass.
 Masses of
Electons vs Protons & Neutrons
ELECTRON

PROTON

The mass of an electron is 1/1836 of the mass of a proton.

The mass of an electron is almost negligible.
 In Summary
Sub-atomic Relative
Relative Mass
Particle Electric Charge

Proton 1 +1

Neutron 1 0

Electron 1/1836 ≈ 0 -1
Periodic Table of Elements

11
What do these
Na numbers
represent??
23
Looking at an Atom
Proton Number =
11
Atomic Number
Na
23
Mass Number =
Nucleon Number =
Atomic Mass
 Proton/Atomic Number
• This refers to the number of protons in an
atom
• Taking sodium as an example, we can see
that 11

Na
23
Sodium has 11 protons
 Nucleon/Mass Number
• This refers to the number of protons and
neutrons in an atom
• Taking sodium as an example, we can see
that 11

Na
23
• Sodium has 23 protons and neutrons
Number of Neutrons
• By simple calculation, we can see that
the number of neutrons in sodium
= 23 – 11
11

Na
= 12

23

No of Neutrons = Mass Number - Proton Number

 Electrons?
• An atom is electrically neutral, which
means that the number of protons =
number of electrons

• Hence, sodium atom has 11 electrons

11

Na
23
 Sodium
11

Na
23
• Sodium has
- 11 protons
- 12 neutrons
- 11 electrons
 Carbon
The atom is Carbon
6 Mass number = 12

C
12
atomic number = 6

Number of protons = 6
Number of electrons = 6
Number of neutrons = 12 – 6
= 6
 Aluminium
The atom is Aluminium
13
Mass number = 27

Al
27
atomic number = 13

Number of protons = 13
Number of electrons = 13
Number of neutrons = 27 – 13
= 14
 Isotopes
What are isotopes?

Isotopes are atoms of the same element with

different numbers of neutrons

Isotopes differ in physical properties(different

mass number) but have the same chemical
properties (same number of valence electrons)
 Hydrogen Isotopes

1 1 1

1
H 2
H 3
H
Hydrogen- 1 Hydrogen- 2 Hydrogen- 3
(Protium) (Deuterium) (Tritium)

No. of protons: 1 1 1

No. of neutrons: 0 1 2
 Carbon Isotopes

6 6 6

12
C 13
C 14
C
Carbon- 12 Carbon-13 Carbon-14

No. of protons: 6 6 6

No. of neutrons: 6 7 8
Structure of an Atom
The structure of an atom is
somewhat like the arrangement of
the Planets around the Sun in our
Solar System

Think about how our Solar System

looks like
Our Solar System
Structure of an Atom
Electron
- Nucleus

+
Neutron
Proton

Electron Shell
 Structure of an Atom
• The nucleus is like the Sun in our model
• It contains only neutrons and protons
• Protons are positively charged, and
neutrons are neutral.
• Hence, nucleus is positively charged
 Structure of an Atom
• Electrons are like our planets in the Solar
System
• They orbit around the nucleus in a fixed
path
• These orbits are called electron shells
• Remember that electrons are negatively
charged
A look at an Atom again

Electron
- Nucleus

+
Neutron
Proton

Electron Shell
 Electron Shells
Electrons of an atom are placed in a
circular orbit around the atom
These orbits are called electron shells
The furthest shell from the nucleus is
called the valence shell
Electrons in this shell are known as
valence electrons
Elements are placed in the periodic table
according to their valence electrons
Electron Shells
1st Shell : to be filled 1st;
can hold a maximum of 2
electrons

2nd Shell : to be filled

after 1st shell is
completely filled; can
hold a maximum of 8
+
electrons
+
+
+

3rd Shell : to be filled

after 1st and 2nd shells
are completely filled;
can hold a maximum of 8
electrons
 Electronic Configuration

The electronic configuration of an

atom is the number of electrons
that it has in each of its electron
shells
 Hydrogen
The hydrogen atom has
only 1 electron
1
H Hence hydrogen’s
electronic configuration:
1
Hydrogen: (1)
 Helium
The helium atom has
2 electrons
2
He Hence helium’s
electronic configuration:
4
Helium: (2)
 Lithium
The lithium atom has
3 electrons
3 But remember that we can only put 2
electrons in the first electron shell
Li
Hence lithium’s
7 electronic configuration:

Lithium: (2, 1)
 Carbon
The carbon atom has 6
electrons
6
C Hence carbon’s
12 electronic configuration:

Carbon: (2, 4)
 Neon
The neon atom has 10
electrons
10
Ne Hence neon’s
20 electronic configuration:

Neon: (2, 8)
 Magnesium
The magnesium atom has
12 electrons
12 But remember that we can only put 8
electrons in the second electron shell
Mg
Hence magnesium’s
24 electronic configuration:

Magnesium: (2, 8, 2)
 How do we draw an atom?

Firstly, write out the electronic

configuration of the atom,

Next, we draw the nucleus as a

circle in the centre

Lastly, we draw the electrons in

their electron shells around the
nucleus
 Draw this Atom
Try drawing an atom of oxygen
Step 1: Deduce the number of
8 electrons:
Ans: 8
O
16 Step 2: Write out the
electronic configuration:

Ans: Oxygen: (2, 6)

 Draw this Atom
Try drawing an atom of this element
Step 3: Represent the nucleus
8 by a circle in the centre
Step 4: Draw 2 electron shells
O
Step 5: Draw the electrons in
16 the electron shells respectively.
Note: You must pair up the
electrons
You may represent electrons as
circles or crosses
 The Oxygen Atom

Legend:
o – electrons of O

Note: Start pairing up the 5-8th electron in the 2nd and 3rd shells
 Draw this Atom
Try drawing an atom of silicon
Step 1: Deduce the number of
14 electrons:
Ans: 14
Si
28 Step 2: Write out the
electronic configuration:

Ans: Silicon: (2, 8, 4)

 Draw this Atom
Try drawing an atom of this element
Step 3: Represent the nucleus
14 by a circle in the centre
Step 4: Draw 3 electron shells
Si
Step 5: Draw the electrons in
28 the electron shells respectively.
Note: You must pair up the
electrons
You may represent electrons as
circles or crosses
 The Silicon Atom

Si

o – electrons of Si

Note: Start pairing up the 5-8th electron in the 2nd and 3rd shells
 Draw this Atom

13
Al
27
 Test Yourself
Write the electronic configuration
of an atom of chlorine

Write the electronic configuration

of an atom of aluminium
 Test Yourself
Draw this atom

7
N
14
 Test Yourself
Draw this atom

16
S
32