Atoms and Molecules

Introduction
→ Around 500 B.C., Indian philosopher Maharishi Kanad, postulated the theory if we go on
dividing matter (padarth), we ill obtain smallest particle beyond which further division can't
be possible which is known as 'parmanu'.
→ Ancient Greek philosophers – Democritus and Leucippus called these particles atoms.
→ Antoine L. Lavoisier laid the foundation of chemical sciences by establishing two
important laws of chemical combination.

Laws of Chemical Combination

• This law established after the experiments by Lavoisier and Joseph L. Proust.
• The chemical reaction between two or more substances give rise to products which is
governed by certain laws called Laws of Chemical Combination

• Law of Conservation of Mass

→ During a chemical reaction, the total mass of reactants will be equal to the total mass of
the products.
→ Mass can neither be created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction.
→ Example: A (reactant) + B (reactant) → AB (product) mass of A + mass of B = mass of
AB

• Law of Constant Proportions

→ In a chemical reaction, compounds always contain the same elements present in definite
proportions by mass irrespective of their source.
→ It was given by Lavoisier.

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→ For example: (i) 18 gm of H2O = 2 gm of hydrogen + 16 gm of oxygen
⇒ mass of hydrogen/mass of oxygen = 2/16 = 1/8

(ii) 36 gm of H2O = 4 gm of hydrogen + 32 gm of oxygen

⇒ mass of hydrogen/mass of oxygen = 4/32 = 1/8

(iii) 9 gm of H2O = 1 gm of hydrogen + 8 gm of oxygen

⇒ mass of hydrogen/mass of oxygen = 1/8

This verifies law of constant proportions as the ratio of mass of hydrogen to oxygen is always
same.

Dalton's Atomic Theory

→ According to Dalton’s atomic theory, all matter, whether an element, a compound or a
mixture is composed of small particles called atoms.
→ Six Postulates of Dalton's atomic theory:
(i) All matter is made of very tiny particles called atoms.
(ii) Atoms are indivisible particles, which cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical
reaction.
(iii) Atoms of a given element are identical in mass and chemical properties. (Law of
conservation of mass)
(iv) Atoms of different elements have different masses and chemical properties.
(v) Atoms combine in the ratio of small whole numbers to form compounds. (Law of constant
proportion)
(vi) The relative number and kinds of atoms are constant in a given compound.

Atom:

Matter is made up of small particles called atoms. Atom is the smallest building block of
matter. Atoms are very small, they are smaller than anything we can imagine or compare
with.

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 Symbols of Atoms of different Elements

 There are 115 elements present on earth till now.

 Many of the symbols are the first one or two letters of the name of the elements.
 First letter of the symbol is always capital. Ex: H for hydrogen, Na for sodium etc.

Properties of Atoms

 Atoms are very small in size. They are of the order 10-10m.
 Atoms of an element are identical in all respect

Note - Atoms of two different elements are different.

• Modern day symbols of Elements

→ Dalton was the first scientist to use the symbols for elements.
→ Berzilius suggested that the symbols of elements should be made from one or two letters
of the name of the element.

 The name copper was taken from Cyprus, a place from where it was found for
first time.
 Now, IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) approves
names of elements.
 The first letter of a symbol is always written as a capital letter (uppercase) and the
second letter as a small letter (lowercase). For example: hydrogen (H), aluminium
(Al), cobalt (Co).
 Some other symbols have been taken from the names of elements in Latin,
German or Greek. For example: Fe from its Latin name ferrum, sodium is Na from
natrium, potassium is K from kalium.

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Symbols of some common elements:
Name of the element Latin name Symbol
Hydrogen H
Helium He
Carobon C
Copper Cuprum Cu
Cobalt Co
Chlorine Cl
Cadmium Cd
Boron B
Barium Ba
Bromine Br
Bismuth Bi
Sodium Natrium Na
Potassium Kalium K
Iron Ferrum Fe
Gold Aurum Au
Silver Argentum Ag
Mercury Hydragyrum Hg

Atomic Mass
Mass of atom is called atomic mass. It is the number which tells that how many times an
atom of an element is heavier than 1/12 of mass of one Carbon atom.
→ Dalton’s atomic theory proposed the idea of atomic mass which explained the law of
constant proportions so well.
→ The mass of an atom of an element is called its atomic mass.
→ In 1961, IUPAC have accepted ‘atomic mass unit’ (u) to express atomic and molecular
mass of elements and compounds.
→ The atomic mass unit is defined as the quantity of mass equal to 1/12 of mass of an atom
of carbon-12.
1 amu or u = 1/12 × Mass of an atom of C12
1 u = 1.66 × 10-27 kg

Note - Here, is of the mass of one atom of Carbon called Relative atomic mass. It doesn’t have
unit.

Molecules

 Molecules are formed by the combination of two or more atoms.

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  For example; two atoms of hydrogen (H2)
molecule of
water.

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 Atomicity

It is defined as the number of atoms present in a molecule.

On the basis of number of atoms, molecules can be categorize in four types:

1. Monoatomic: Molecules containing only atom are said to be monoatomic. For

example; He, Ne, Ar etc.

2. Diatomic: Molecules containing two atoms . for example-O2 , H2 ………etc

3. Triatomic molecules are molecules composed of three atoms, of either the same or
different chemical elements. Examples include H₂O, CO₂ and HCN.

Depending on type of atoms , molecules are further divided into two parts:

1. Homo-atomic Molecule: Molecules formed by only one type of atoms are known as
Homo-atomic molecule.

2. Hetero-atomic Molecule: Molecules formed by different types of atoms are known as

Hetero-atomic molecules.

Name of the Molecules

Atomicity
element formula
Helium Monoatomic He
Neon Monoatomic Ne
Argon Monoatomic Ar
Sodium Monoatomic Na
Iron Monoatomic Fe
Aluminium Monoatomic Al
Hydrogen Di-atomic H2
Oxygen Di-atomic O2
Chlorine Di-atomic Cl2
Nitrogen Di-atomic N2
Polyatomic
Phosphorus P4
(Tetra)
Polyatomic
Sulphur S8
(Octa)

Molecular mass

Molecular mass:

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Molecular mass is the amount of mass associated with a molecule. It is also called as
molecular weight. It can be calculated by adding the mass of each atom multiplied by the
number of atoms of the element present in the molecule.
 For example, water is made up of 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom. Mass of
water molecule is equal to the average atomic mass of hydrogen multiplied by two
plus the atomic mass of oxygen. Molecular mass of elements depends upon the
constituent atoms of the molecule.

• Atom existence
→ Atoms of most of the elements are very reactive and does not exist in free state.
→ Only the atoms of noble gases (such as He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe and Rn) are chemically
unreactive and can exist in the free state as single atom.
→ Atoms of all other elements combine together to form molecules or ions.
• Molecule
It is the smallest particle of an eleme4It- or a dolnpound which can wxist independently.
• Molecules of an element constitutes same type of atoms. 1.w
• Molecules may be monoatomic, di-atomic or polyatomic. IT .
• Molecules of compounds join together in defmite proportionsrand constitutes different
type of atoms.

• Ions
The charged particles (atoms) are called ions, they charge or negative charge on it:
Negatively charged ionis called anion (C1�).
Positively charge ion is called cation (Na+).

• Valency
The combining capacity of an element is known as its valency: Valency is used to fmd
out how atom of an element will combine with the atom of another element to form a
chemical compound.
(Every atom want, to become stable, to do so it may loose, gain or share electrongs.
(i) If an atom consists of 1, 2 or 3 electrons in its valgncesI ell then its valency is 1, 2 or 3
respectively,
(ii) If an atom consists of 5, 6 or 7 electrons in the outermost shell, then it will gain 3, 2 or
1 electron respectively and its valency will be 3, 2 or 1 respectively.
(ii) If an atom has 4 electrons in the outermost shell than it will she this electron and
hence its valency will be 4.
(iv) If an atom has 8 electrons in the outermost shell then its valency is 0.

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• Chemical Formulae
Rules: (i) The valencies or charges on the ion must balance.
(ii) A metal and non-metal compound should show the name or symbols of the metal first.
e.g., Na+ Cl– → NaCl
(iii) If a compound consist of polyatomic ions. The ion before writing the number to
indicate the ratio.
e.g., [SO4]2– → polyatomic radical
H1+ SO42– → H2SO4.
Chemical formula of some simple compounds
(a) Calcium hydroxid

(b) Aluminium oxide

• Formula Unit Mass

It is the sum of the atomic masses of all atoms in a formula unit of a compound. The
constituent particles are ions.
e.g., Na+ + Cl– → NaCl
1 × 23 + 1 × 35.5 = 58.5 u
• Mole Concept

Mole: Mole is the measurement in chemistry. It is used to express the amount of a chemical
substance.
One mole is defined as the amount of substance of a system which contains as many entities
like, atoms, molecules and ions as there are atoms in 12 grams of carbon - 12".

Avogadro number: The number of the particles present in one mole of any substance is
equal to 6.022x1023. This is called avogadro’s number or avogadro’s constant.

Number of particles in 1 mole:

1 mole of hydrogen atoms represents 6.022 × 1023 hydrogen atoms.

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1 mole of hydrogen molecules represents 6.022 × 1023 hydrogen molecules.
1 mole of water molecules represents 6.022 × 1023 water molecules.

Atomic mass: The atomic mass of an element is the mass of one atom of that element in
atomic mass units or (u).

Atomic mass unit (amu): 1/12th of the mass of an atom of carbon-12 is called atomic mass
unit. It is a unit of mass used to express atomic masses and molecular masses.

Molar mass: The molar mass of an element is equal to the numerical value of the atomic
mass. However, in case of molar mass, the units change from ‘u’ to ‘g’. The molar mass of an
atom is also known as gram atomic mass.
For example, the atomic mass of carbon =12 atomic mass units. So, the gram atomic mass of
carbon = 12 grams.
Molecular mass of the molecule: The sum of the atomic masses of all the atoms in a
molecule of a substance is called the molecular mass of the molecule.
Molecular mass - calculation: Generally we use relative atomic masses of atoms for
calculating the molecular mass of 1 mole of any molecular or ionic substances.
Example: Molecular mass of H2SO4
Atomic mass of Hydrogen = 1
Atomic mass of sulphur = 32
Atomic mass of oxygen = 16
Molecular mass of H2SO4 = 2(Atomic mass of Hydrogen) + 1 (Atomic mass of sulphur) + 4
(Atomic mass of oxygen)
= 2×1 + 32 + 4× 16 = 98 u.

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Calculation of molecular mass of hydrogen chloride:
Atomic mass of hydrogen + Atomic mass of chlorine = 1 + 35.5 = 36.5 u.

Formula unit mass: The formula unit mass of a substance is the sum of the atomic masses
of all atoms in a formula unit of a compound. The term ‘formula unit’ is used for those
substances which are made up of ions.
Formula unit mass of NaCl: 1 X Atomic mass of Na + 1 X Atomic mass of Cl
1x23 +1 x 35.5 = 58.5 atomic mass units.

Formula unit mass of ZnO:

= 1 X Atomic mass of Zn + 1 X Atomic mass O
= 1 X 65 + 1 X 16 = 81 u.

Avogadro's number, number of particles and moles - conversion formulae:

Number of moles (n) = Given number of particles (N) / Avogadro number (N0)

Example: Find the number of moles present in 24.088X1023 particles of carbon dioxide
1 mole of carbon dioxide contains 6.022x1023
Solution: The number of moles (n ) = Given number of particles (N) / Avogadro number
(N0).
= 24.088X1023 / 6.022x1023
= 4 moles.
Number of atoms (n) = Given mass (m) / Molar mass (M) x Avogadro number (N0)

Example: Calculate the number of atoms in 48g of Mg

Solution: Number of atoms (n) = Given mass (m) / Molar mass (M) x Avogadro number (N0).
= 48/24 X 6.022x1023
= 12.04 X1023 atoms.
Number of molecules (n) = Given mass (m) / Molar mass (M) x Avogadro number (N0)

Example: Calculate the number of molecules in 3.6 g of water

Solution: The molecular weight of H2O = 18
18g of water - 6.022x1023 molecules
3.6g of water - 6.022x1023 X 3.6/18
= 1.206 X 1022 molecules.
Number of particles (n) = Number of moles of particles (n) x Avogadro number (N0)

Example: Calculate the number of atoms in 0.5 moles of carbon

Solution: Number of atoms = 0.5 X 6.022x1023
= 3.0115 atoms

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