ATOMS FROM THE EYES OF PHILOSOPHERS AND SCIENTIST

EMPEDOCLES according to this Greek philosopher MATTER ARE MADE UP OF FOUR ELEMENTS NAMELY FIRE,
AIR, WATER and EARTH.
ARISTOTLE He supported the idea of Empedocles and added a FIFTH ELEMENT he called AETHER or ETHER
- His ideas were supported by ALCHEMIST during 300 BC until the end of 17th century.
- ALCHEMIST comes from the word ALCHEMY, which has an origins in the GREEK WORD KHEMEIA
which means art of transmuting metals.
- Considered as the VERY EARLY CHEMIST because of their work of trying to transform base metals into
GOLD, discover a universal cure for diseases, and discover a means of prolonging life, however none
of these aims succeeded.
DEMOCRITUS believed that all matter is made up of very small particles called ATOMS came from the Greek
word ATOMOS means indivisible, INDESTRUCTIBLE AND UNCUTTABLE.
- This idea of Democritus was purely based on hypothetically mental experience and reasoning.
JOHN JOSEPH DALTON an English school teacher, a chemist and physicist greatly extended the mans idea about
an atom by performing a series of experiments that led him to the formulation of the well-known atomic theory
today. His postulates may be summed up to what is known as DALTONS ATOMIC THEORY
1. Elements are made up of small particles called atoms.
2. In any given pure element, the mass and other properties of all the atoms are the same. Atoms of different
element differ in mass and other properties.
3. Compounds are composed of atoms of more than one element. The constituent atoms in a given compound are
present in a constituent or constant whole number ratio.
4. In a chemical reaction, atoms are neither created nor destroy. They simply combine, separate or rearranged.

The third postulates of Dalton was supported by JOSEPH PROUST about the composition of matter. In 1779 Proust
proposed an important principle that revealed quantitative analysis of chemical reactions which is A LAW OF
DEFINITE PROPORTIONS.
LAW OF DEFINITE PROPORTIONS states that elements always combine in a similar proportions by mass
regardless of the size of the sample.
Example: if you examine the Carbon dioxide gas in Manila and Carbon dioxide in Baguio, they are just the same
Carbon dioxide with same ratio of Carbon to Oxygen, which is 1:2.
LAW OF MULTIPLE PROPORTIONS the third postulates of Dalton also supports this law. Which states that if two
or more different compounds are composed of the same two elements, then the ratio of the masses of the second
element combined with a certain mass of the first element is always a ratio of small whole numbers.
Example: CO and CO2
LAW OF CONSERVATION OF MASS this law states that mass is neither created nor destroyed during a chemical
reactions. Daltons last postulates supported this law.
Example: when a reaction is done in a closed container, the total mass before and after the reaction is the same.

STRUCTURE OF AN ATOM

ATOMS considered as the tiniest particle of an element that retains the chemical properties of that element.
- All atoms are made up of the nucleus and the electrons.
NUCLEUS is at the center of an atom composed of PROTONS AND NEUTRONS CALLED NUCLEONS.
WILHELM CONRAD ROENTGEN OR WILHELM RNTGEN DISCOVERED THE X-RAYS ON NOV. 8, 1895.
JOHN JOSEPH THOMSON DISCOVERED THE ELECTRONS and proposed the PLUM PUDDING MODEL OF AN ATOM.
Which illustrated how the negatively charged electrons (PLUMS) are mixed with smeared out positive charges
(PUDDING).
JAMES CHADWICK DISCOVERED THE NEUTRONS A NEUTRAL CHARGED PARTICLE.
ERNEST RUTHERFORD DISCOVERED THE PROTONS A POSITIVELY CHARGED PARTICLE.

ISOTOPES

ISOTOPES elements with the same number of protons but different in number of neutrons or with the same
atomic number but different in atomic mass.
Example: hydrogen has 3 isotopes namely protium, deuterium, tritium and these isotopes are the first forms of
matter after the big bang explosion.

USES OF SOME ISOTOPES IN THE FIELD OF MEDICINES

1. DISEASE DIAGNOSIS
A. IODINE-131 = used to assessed the activity of your thyroid gland.
B. IODINE-125 = used to assessed deep vein thrombosis.
2. DISEASE TREATMENT
A. COBALT-60 = used for controlling cancer
3. CARBON DATING
A. URANIUM-238 = used to determine the age of rocks.
B. CARBON-14 = used to date fossils, relics and mummies.
4. FOOD PRESERVATION
A. COBALT-60 = used to preserved unprocessed red meat.
IONS
IONS charged atoms.
CATIONS POSITIVELY CHARGED ATOMS
ANIONS NEGATIVELY CHARGED ATOMS
ARRANGEMENT OF ELEMENTS IN THE PERIODIC TABLE
PERIODIC TABLE serves as the repository of information of more than a hundred elements.
WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN PERIODIC TABLE
1. JOHANN WOLFGANG DOBEREINER (1871) A German chemist who arranged the elements into 3 with similar
properties and he called it as triads. He observes that in a group of 3 elements the middle elements exhibit
properties that lie midway between the other two elements.
Example: Li, Na, K
2. JOHN ALEXANDER REINA NEWLANDS (1864) An English chemist proposed a classification in which the elements
are arranged in increasing atomic mass or weight. He said that there is a repetition of similar properties for every
eight elements. He called this arrangements as LAW OF OCTAVES. But this law was hampered because the law did
not work for all the known elements during that time.
3. DMITRI MENDELEEVE (1869) a Russian chemist who arranged the elements in order of increasing atomic
weights. He observes that physical and chemical properties of elements repeat periodically. His table was widely
accepted part of the reason why is that he predicted the existence of undiscovered elements. So he left blank
spaces. But his table was not completely correct because he arranged the elements by increasing atomic mass.
4. LOTHAR MEYER (1869) He was a German chemist who devised a classification of elements into a table just like
Mendeleev.
5. HENRY GWYN-JEFFREY MOSELEY (1887-1915) he was a young British physicist, determined the nuclear charged.
He arranged the elements in order of increasing atomic number because the number of protons in the nucleus of
an atom is what distinguishes an element. The modern periodic table we are using today is the periodic table
design by Moseley.

THE MODERN PERIODIC TABLE

PERIODS OR SERIES The rows or horizontal arrangement in the periodic table. These rows are numbered with
Arabic numerals from 1-7for easy identification. Rows 6 and 7 are actually long rows
FAMILIES OR GROUPS columns or vertical arrangements.

GENERAL CLASSIFICATIONS OF AN ELEMENTS

GROUP A ELEMENTS = are classified as the REPRESENTATIVE OR MAIN GROUP ELEMENTS.
GROUP B ELEMENTS = are called the TRANSITION ELEMENTS.
INNER TRANSITION ELEMENTS = are the long rows in the lower portions of the periodic table.

CLASSIFICATIONS OF AN ELEMENTS

LANTHANIDE ELEMENTS OR LANTHANIDES = are elements with atomic number 58-71 because they follow
lanthanum. The lanthanide elements or lanthanum are collectively called as LANTHANOIDS.
ACTINIDE ELEMENTS OR ACTINIDES = are elements with atomic number 90-103 since they follow actinium. They
are collectively called as ACTINIUM.
SPECIFIC NAMES OF EVERY GROUP
GROUP 1A ELEMENTS =THEY ARE CALLED ALKALI METALS because they can react with oxygen to form metallic
oxides that are basic when dissolve in water.
GROUP 2A ELEMENTS = ARE CALLED AS ALKALINE EARTH METALS. They are also metals but many of this elements
are insoluble in water. Before it was called as earth but they have similarities with alkali metals so they called it as
alkaline earth metals.
GROUP 7A ELEMENTS = ARE CALLED HALOGENS, from the Greek word HAL meaning SALT and GEN means TO
PRODUCE.
GROUP 8A ELEMENTS = ARE CALLED NOBLE GASES because of their limited reactivity.
GROUP 3A TO 6A = though not commonly used they named after the first element of each group. SO THEY ARE
CALLED AS BORON, CARBON, NITROGEN AND OXYGEN FAMILIES.