SIMPLE MODEL OF AN ATOM

Atoms consist of protons, neutrons, and electrons. the relative

mass (Mr) of an electron is 1/1836.

The mass of an atom is concentrated in the small nucleus, hence

it is of high density.

Isotopes
Isotopes are atoms of the same element which contain the same
number of protons (and electrons) but different number of
neutrons. This means that different isotopes have different mass
numbers, but the same atomic number.

The chemistry properties of isotopes are always the same since

they have the same number of electrons.

BASIC DEFINITIONS

Relative atomic mass

The relative atomic mass of an element is the average mass of an
atom of an element, taking under consideration all its isotopes
and its abundances, compared to 1/12th of the mass of an atom of
the carbon12 isotope.

This is calculated by using the following formula:

**0.01 x (% abundance x mass) + (% abundance x mass) **

Relative isotopic mass

The relative isotopic mass of an isotope if the mass of one atom
of the isotope compared to 1/12th of the mass of an atom of the
carbon12 isotope.

Relative molecular mass

Also known as relative formula mass, it is the sum of the
average masses of the elements in their natural abundance,
relative to 1/12th of the carbon12 isotope.

The isotope carbon12 is used as 1 mole of it has the exact mass

of 12 grams.

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 MASS SPECTROMETRY

A mass spectrometer gave chemists an accurate method of

comparing the relative masses of atoms and molecules. It is also
used to decide the isotopic composition of an element.

It separates atoms and molecules according to their mass and

also shows the different number of atoms and molecules present.

Before this can happen, the atoms will have to be converted into
a positive ion (cation) in the gaseous state.

This is achieved by bombarding the vapourised sample with a beam

go high energy electrons, which will then knock off an electron
from the atom / molecule.

The positive ions are accelerated by an electric field. Their

paths are then altered with a magnetic field. Lighter ions have
less momentum and are deflected more than heavier ions.

For a given field, only ions with a particular mass/charge ratio

will make it to the detector.

Next, the magnetic field strength is slowly increased in order

to change the mass charge ratio of ions that can reach the
detector. A mass spectrum that looks like this is produced:

A molecular ion, M+, is the positive ion formed in mass

spectrometry when a molecule loses an electron. The molecular
ion peak is at the far right of the spectrum.

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Fragmentation is the process in mass spectrometry that causes a
positive ion to split into pieces, one of which is a positive
fragment ion. This causes the other peaks on a mass spectrum.

SHELLS, SUBSHELLS, AND ORBITALS

Shells are made up of subshells, and subshells are made up of

orbitals.

An orbital is a region in space where there is a high likelihood

of finding an electron. They can each hold a maximum of 2
electrons.

Electrons can occupy four types of orbitals: s, p, d, f. These

are closely relted to the periodic table.

Electrons have spins: either clockwise or anti-clockwise.

Hunds rule state that every orbital in a subshell is singly

occupied with one electron before any one orbital is doubly
occupied, and all electrons in singly occupied orbitals have the
same spin.

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 ELECTRONIC CONFIGURATION

Electronic configuration tells us the location of electrons in

the atom.

Electrons fill subshells and orbitals starting with those at the

lowest energy level, closest to the nucleus. The order of
subshells according to their energy level is as following:

1s

2s 2p

3s 3p 3d

4s 4p 4d 4f

Isoelectronic refers to two atoms, ions or molecules that have

the same electronic structure and same number of valence
electrons. These include:

O2

F^-

Na+