Atomic basics Things you should know about atoms and their nuclei (you will need a copy

of the periodic table for this): There are over 100 different atoms on the periodic table. Each one differs because of the number of protons. All atoms have the same basic structure - they have a nucleus in the center which is made from protons and neutrons. The nucleus is orbited by a cloud of electrons. Protons, neutrons and electrons are called "subatomic particles". Each one has slightly different characteristics. Protons and neutrons have the same mass. However, protons have a positive charge and neutrons have a neutral charge. (The neutral neutrons are essential so that the nucleus sticks together - otherwise the positive protons would repel each other like two positive ends of different magnets.) The electrons are so small that they have almost no mass. Electrons have a negative charge. They are kept close to the nucleus due to their attraction to the positive protons. The periodic table tells you the atomic number and mass number for each element. These numbers tell you the amount of protons, neutrons and electrons that an atom has.

For example, potassium (K) is number 19 on the periodic table. Potassium has an atomic number of 19. That tells you it has 19 positive protons in its nucleus. In order for it to be electrically neutral, there will normally be 19 negative electrons orbiting around this nucleus. The mass number of potassium (as seen on the periodic table) is 39. That means there are 39 protons and neutrons in the nucleus. Since we know there are 19 protons, we can easily figure out that there are 20 neutrons. (19 + 20 = 39) Sometimes an atom has a charge on it. That means the number of protons and electrons aren't equal. For example, if potassium has a charge of 2+, that means it has 2 more protons than it has electrons. (It would have a total of 19 protons and 17 electrons in this example.) Electrons are what cause atoms to bond with each other. In most cases, atoms want to have 8 electrons in their valence (outermost) shell. If an atoms has fewer than 8 valence electrons, it will form a bond with another atom (which forms a molecule) so that it can fill its valence shell. Atoms are grouped into columns on the periodic table due to the number of valence electrons they have. Elements in the hydrogen column (H, Li, Na, etc) all have 1 valence electron. The Beryllium column elements have 2. The Boron column elements have 3. The Carbon column elements have 4. The Nitrogen column elements have 5. The Oxygen column elements have 6. The Flourine column elements have 7. The Helium column elements (mostly) have 8. Elements in the last column of the periodic table are known as the "noble gases" because their valence shell is full and they usually don't form bonds with other atoms.

Bonding Atoms bond with each other to fill the electrons in their valence shell. While there are several bonds that happen in chemistry, we will focus on two main intramolecular bonds. (Intramolecular bonds are those that happen within a molecule between atoms in other words.) The two types of bonds are: 1. ionic in these bonds, one atom will donate (give up) electrons, and another atom will accept those electrons. The electrons are not shared. This usually happens between a metal atom and a non-metal atom. For example, sodium (#11 Na) has one electron in its valence shell. Chlorine (#17 Cl) has seven electrons in its valence shell. Chlorine is much larger than sodium, which means that it has more protons. The positively charged protons give chlorine a higher electron affinity, and it steals the valence electron from the sodium. The chlorine atom is now stable (because it has 8 electrons in its valence shell) and the sodium has lost its valence electron, leaving 8 in the shell underneath. 2. covalent in these bonds, the atoms involved will share their electrons. These bonds usually happen between two non-metals. For example, when two chlorine atoms (each with 7 valence electrons) join together, they share their 7th electron with each other. This creates a covalent bond between the two atoms. In either case (ionic or covalent), energy is stored inside the bond, once the bond is formed. If the bond is formed, this energy is released. Forming molecules The above two examples of ionic and covalent bonds only refer to two atoms that bond to each other. Molecules may be formed from several atoms. When a molecule is formed, it must be electrically neutral in order to be stable. ** please refer to your periodic table for the next section ** Elements in the Hydrogen column (Li, Na, K, etc) all have a charge of + 1. Elements in the Beryllium column all have a charge of +2. Boron column elements have a charge of +3. Carbon column elements have a charge of +/- 4. (I'll explain that in a bit...) Nitrogen column elements have a charge of -3. Oxygen column elements have a charge of -2. Flourine column elements have a charge of -1. Helium column elements (the Noble Gases) have a charge of 0. Please write these charges in along the top of your periodic table. Individual atoms are often written with their charge as a superscript. For example, N3-. Positively charged atoms will only bond with negatively charged atoms, and they will do this in such a way to create a molecule with no charge. For example, Magnesium has a charge of +2. It can either bond with one Oxygen (-2) to form MgO, or it can bond with two Chlorines (-1 each) to form MgCl2. Elements in the Carbon column have a charge of +/- 4. This means that they can bond with either positive or negative atoms. For example, Carbon might bond with four Hydrogen atoms (+1 each) to form CH4, or it might bond with two Oxygen atoms (-2 each) to form CO2. What molecules will these chemical reactions form? a) b) c) Al 3+ + F - _____ Ge 4- + Sr 2+ ____ C 4+ + P 3- ____

Sometimes, small molecules are formed that have an overall charge. (In other words, they're not neutral.) These are called polyatomic ions. ('Polyatomic' means that they're formed from many atoms. 'Ions' refers to particles that have a charge.) Please go to: http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/chem30_05/appendix/tables.htm and find the table of Common ions. This gives the charges found on each element in the periodic table, as well as those of the polyatomic ions we will see in this class. You should print this table out so that you can refer to it. What this means is that you have to be able to recognize which combinations of atoms are ions. For example, in the molecule H2CO3, it is made from two parts positive hydrogens (+1 each) which have bonded with the negative ion CO3 (-2). In the molecule Al(NO3)3, one aluminum atom (+3) has bonded with three nitrate ions (-1). Each nitrate ion is composed of one nitrogen atoms and three oxygen atoms. What molecules will each of these chemical reactions form? a) b) c) Mg 2+ + NH4 + + Ga 3+ + CN S 2---> ---> ______ ______ ______

SO3 2- --->

Balancing chemical reactions A chemical reaction consists of two parts chemicals called the reactants which are going to react together, and the products which are formed during the chemical reaction. For example, in the reaction B3+ + As3- BAs, the reactants are found on the left side of the arrow, and the products are on the right side. In that reaction, all elements are balanced. That means that the total number of atoms in the reactants equals the total number of atoms in the products. In the reaction, Ca2+ + Br1- CaBr2, the elements are not balanced. We must add numbers in front of the individual atoms or molecules to balance the reaction. As you can see, there is one Bromine on the left (in the reactants), and two Bromines on the right (in the products). The Calcium atoms are the same on either side. To balance this, we would need to put a 2 in front of the Bromine in the reactants. The reaction would now look like this: Ca2+ + 2 Br1- CaBr2 What this means (in plain English) is that one Calcium atom reacts with two Bromine atoms to form one molecule of CaBr 2. (You may remember from Chemistry 20 that this molecule is called Calcium dibromide.) Three practice examples:

____ Fe ____ NaCl

+ +

____ 02 ____ F2
____ MgCl2

_____Fe203 _____NaF
_____AgCl

+ _____Cl2
+ _____ Mg(NO3)2

____ AgNO3 +

Hopefully, you recognized that the NO3 in the third example was a polyatomic ion.