ATOMS, MOLECULES AND IONS

ATOMIC THEORY
Democritus (460 B.C. 370 B.C.)
A Greek philosopher
was among the first to suggest the
existence of atoms (from the Greek word

atomos)
He believed that atoms were indivisible
and indestructible
His ideas did agree with later scientific
theory, but did not explain chemical
behavior, and was not based on the

Summary of Daltons Atomic Theory

1. Elements are composed of extremely
small particles, called atoms.
2. All atoms of a given element are identical,
having the same size, mass, and chemical
properties.
The atoms of one element are different from
the atoms of all other elements.
3. Compounds are composed of atoms of
the

ratio

of

In a chemical reaction, the mass of the

substances produced must be the same
as the mass of the substances consumed.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE ATOM

Atom
The basic unit of an element that can

enter into chemical combination.

Dalton imagined an atom that was both

extremely small and indivisible.

1850s extending to the twentieth century
a series of investigations had began and
clearly demonstrated that atoms actually

scientific method but just philosophy

more than one element.

In any compound,

the

numbers of atoms of any two of the

elements present is either an integer or a
simple fraction.
4. A chemical reaction involves only the
separation, combination, or rearrangement
of atoms; it does not result in their creation

possess internal structure

Subatomic particles:
Electrons
Particles with negative charge
has a mass that is approximately 1/1836

that of the proton.

J.J. Thomson

Protons
particles with a positive charge, and a
relative mass of 1 (or 1840 times that of

an electron)
Eugene Goldstein
1886

Neutrons
a particle with no charge, but a mass

nearly equal to a proton

James Chadwick
1932

or destruction.

Law of Definite Proportions

1799
Joseph Proust, a French chemist
states that different samples of the
same

compound

constituent

always

elements

in

contain
the

its

same

proportion by mass

ATOMIC MODELS
Plum Pudding
J.J. Thomson
proposed the plum pudding model of the

Rutherford Model
described the atom as a tiny, dense,
positively charged core called a nucleus

Law of Multiple Proportions

States that if two elements can combine
to form more than one compound, the
masses of one element that combine with

surrounded by lighter, negatively charged

mini solar system where the electrons

ratios of small whole numbers.

created nor destroyed

electrons.
Another way of thinking about this model
was that the atom was seen to be like a

a fixed mass of the other element are in

Law of Conservation of Mass

States that matter can be neither

atom.
Electron raisins
Pudding of positive charge

orbit the nucleus like planets orbiting

around the sun.

This model is sometimes known as the
planetary model of the atom.

Bohr Atom Orbital Model

- The core of the atom was the nucleus,
containing

neutral

particles

The

an

atom

determines its elemental identity.

called

neutrons and positive particles called

An Atoms Identity
number of protons in

protons.
Electrons had different defined amounts

PERIODIC TABLE
A tabular arrangement of elements in
rows

and

columns,

highlighting

the

of energy, therefore had to exist at

regular repetition of properties of the

specified distances from the nucleus, in

elements

orbits.
This meant

1869
Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev (1834

1907)
German chemist J. Lothar Meyer (1830

Cloud

1895)
working

Model
The electrons move so quickly in their

discoveries.
They found that when they arranged the

that

the

electron

was

quantized or had only a certain quantity

of energy when found at different energy
levels.
Quantum

Mechanical

Model

similar

elements in order of atomic mass, they

behavior.
Each cloud has its own characteristic

could place them in horizontal rows, one

shape, depending how far away from the

in each vertical column have similar

nucleus the energy level is found.

Atomic Number, Mass Number and

properties.

Atomic Number
Is the number of protons in the nucleus of
an atom.
Mass number
is the total number of protons and

row under the other, so that the elements

Mendeleevs Breakthrough
Mendeleev placed elements with similar

properties in vertical columns.

He left blank spaces where he thought

elements should exist.

Note that elements 112, 114, 116, and
118 have recently been synthesized,

neutrons in a nucleus.

although they have not yet been named.

Isotopes
are atoms whose nuclei have the same
atomic number but different mass

numbers;
that is: the nuclei have the same number
of protons but different numbers of

Atomic Mass
is the weighted average mass of an
element which accounts for all isotopes

isotope is determined by nature.

Note that in an isotope, the # of neutrons
varies which makes the mass number (A)
vary as well.

periods and groups.

Period

consists of the elements in any

one horizontal row of the periodic

and their percent natural abundances.

Percent Natural Abundance
The different types and amounts of each

Periods and Groups

The basic structure of the periodic table is
its division into rows and columns, or

neutrons.

made

orbital that they create a cloud-like

Isotopes

independently,

table.
Group

consists of the elements in any

one column of the periodic table.
MOLECULES AND IONS

Molecules

A molecule is an aggregate of at least two

atoms in a definite arrangement held
together by chemical forces (also called
chemical bonds).

A molecule may contain atoms of the

Molecular Formulas

same element or atoms of two or more

elements joined in a fixed ratio, in

number of atoms of each element in the

accordance with the law of definite

smallest unit of a substance. In our

proportion.
Thus, a molecule is not necessarily a

discussion of molecules, each example

compound, which, by definition, is made

parentheses.

was given with its molecular formula in

up of two or more elements.

Monatomic Molecules
Exist in nature as single atom.

them is by the use of molecular models.

Two standard types of molecular models are
currently in use:
ball-and-stick models
space-filling models

Polyatomic Molecules
Containing more than two atoms

Ions

Ball and- stick model kits

the atoms are wooden or plastic balls with

charge.
The number of positively charged protons

holes in them.
Sticks or springs are used to represent

in the nucleus of an atom remains the

chemical bonds.
The angles they form between atoms

An ion is an atom or a group of atoms

that has a net positive or negative

same during ordinary chemical changes

(called

chemical

reactions),

approximate the bond angles in actual

but

negatively charged electrons may be lost

Cation
The loss of one or more electrons from a
neutral atom resultsin a cation
an ion with a net positive charge.

clearly, and they are fairly easy to

greatly exaggerate the space between

Chemical Formulas

atoms in a molecule.

ionic compounds in terms of chemical

symbols.
By composition we mean not only the

the bonds are not visible.

The balls are proportional in size to

atoms.
The first step toward building a molecular
model is writing the structural formula,

elements
present but also the ratios in which the
atoms are combined.

Space-filling models
atoms are represented by truncated balls
held together by snap fasteners, so that

Chemists use chemical formulas to

express the composition of molecules and

construct.
However, the balls are not proportional to
the size of atoms. Furthermore, the sticks

Anion
is an ion whose net charge is negative
increase in the number of electrons

molecules.
Ball-and-stick models show the threedimensional arrangement of atoms

or gained.

MOLECULAR MODELS
Molecules are too small for us to observe
directly. An effective means of visualizing

Diatomic Molecules
contains only two atoms.

A molecular formula shows the exact

which shows how atoms are bonded to

one another in a molecule

Space-filling models are more accurate
because

Here we are mainly concerned with two

types of formulas:
molecular formulas
empirical formulas

they

show

the

variation

in

atomic size.
Their drawbacks are that they are timeconsuming to put together and they do

not show the three-dimensional positions

of atoms very well.

Formula of Ionic Compounds

usually the same as their empirical

Empirical Formulas

formulas because ionic compounds do not

Thus, the empirical formula tells us which

consist of discrete molecular units.

elements are present and the simplest

whole-number ratio of their atoms, but
not necessarily the actual number of

atoms in a given molecule.

are the simplest chemical formulas
they are written by reducing the
subscripts in the molecular formulas to
the smallest possible whole numbers.

Molecular formulas

are the true formulas of molecules

If we know the molecular formula, we also
know the empirical formula, but the
reverse is not true.

The formulas of ionic compounds are

Naming Compounds

In addition to using formulas to show the

composition

of

molecules

and

compounds, chemists have developed a

system for naming substances on the
basis of their composition.
First, we divide them into three categories:
ionic compounds
molecular compounds,
acids and bases.