Atoms are the basic building blocks of all substances

There are 92 naturally occurring elements (and some that have been made by scientists, so there are just over 100 in all)

Elements only contain one type of atom, either on their own, or chemically bonded together

Compounds contain two or more types of atom chemically bonded together

Elements can have very different appearances and properties

The element nickel The element sulphur The element bromine

The periodic table of the elements lists all the different types of atoms from which our world is made:

Each element has a symbol e.g. K = Potassium, Fe = Iron The first letter is always a capital, if there is a second letter it is lower case The elements are arranged in GROUPS (vertical columns). Each group is a chemical family with related properties Rows across the periodic table are called PERIODS. H and He form the first period.

What does an atom consist of ?

The nucleus consists of protons and neutrons. Each different element has a different number of protons thats what makes each element different.

The neutrons, together with the protons, make up the mass of the atom.

The nucleus is surrounded by electrons in various energy levels or shells. In a atom there are exactly the same number of protons as electrons.

Phosphorus: the element with 15 protons

Sulphur: the element with 16 protons

Particle

Where found
in the nucleus

Charge

Mass

P
Proton

+
1

N
Neutron

in the nucleus

none

E
Electron

in shells (energy levels) surrounding the nucleus

0
* actually about 1/2000th of the mass of a proton or neutron

mass number

39

The atomic number is the smaller of the two numbers shown in the periodic table, and it corresponds to the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom of that element. The Periodic Table is organised in atomic number order. The mass number is the larger of the two numbers and is the total number of particles, both protons and neutrons, in the nucleus. These make up the mass of the atom because electrons weigh very little.

atomic number

K 19

symbol

potassium
name

The number of neutrons can be found by subtracting the atomic number from the mass number e.g. for potassium: neutrons = (39 19) = 20

We know how many electrons an atom has the same as the number of protons (which we can find by looking up the atomic number in the periodic table). The electrons are found in energy levels around the nucleus also referred to as shells. They are not arranged randomly in these shells. Electrons go into the lowest unfilled energy level (that is, the shell nearest to the nucleus which has space in it). The innermost shell is full when it contains 2 electrons The other shells are full when they contain 8 electrons These rules work up to Calcium (20 electrons) which is as far as you have to know ! e.g. Sodium has atomic number 11, so it has 11 electrons. The first two go in the innermost shell which is then full The next eight go in the second shell which is then full

e
e e e e e
Na

The remaining one goes in the third shell.

We can show the electron arrangement for sodium as [2,8,1]

e e

e e

S
[2,8,6]
Electron arrangements for hydrogen and helium are easy ! One and two electrons respectively, in a single shell around the nucleus. After that, its more complicated, but the periodic table can help: The number of shells you need to draw is the same as the PERIOD that the element is in. Once youve drawn the right number of shells around the nucleus, fill all shells except the outermost. (2 in the innermost shell, then 8 in each) Then draw the outer shell electrons. The number of electrons in the outermost shell = GROUP number that the element is in. Sulphur is in period 3, group 6 and has 16 electrons. See how these rules works to give 3 shells, 6 electrons in the outer shell, and the inner shells both full

Chemical Bonds

S
[2,8,6]

The outer shell electrons of an atom are very important. These are the electrons which get involved in forming chemical bonds.

The bonds which hold atoms together to make elements and compounds may be formed by:

transferring electrons from one atom to another to form ions, resulting in ionic bonding e.g. in sodium chloride (NaCl)

sharing electrons between atoms, resulting in covalent bonding e.g. in water (H2O)

When different atoms join together they form COMPOUNDS a compound is defined as containing:

two or more different types of atom, chemically bonded together

Here are some compounds:

water, H2O methane, CH4 sodium chloride, NaCl

Here are some things that are NOT compounds:

helium atoms, He

sulphur molecule, S8

graphite (carbon)

Chemical bonds hold atoms together in elements and compounds

No matter how they are formed, they are strong and difficult to break.

H
bond

H C H

H
In a mixture, there is more than one element or compound intermingled. They are NOT chemically bonded together, and can be separated by physical means.

mixture

compound

e.g. If I mix sand and water, I CAN separate the sand from the water molecules (by filtering the mixture) because the water is NOT chemically bonded to the sand. I CANT easily separate the hydrogen and oxygen atoms that make up the water molecules, or the silicon and oxygen atoms which make up the sand, because they ARE chemically bonded together.

A chemical equation shows what happens to the substances in a chemical reaction. It shows how the reactants are turned into the products. reactant 1 + reactant 2 product 1 + product 2 etc. Equations can be written in words, but it is more useful to write them using chemical formulae (symbols) for the reactants and products, because then we know the number and type of atoms which are joined together in the elements and compounds. For example - magnesium reacts with oxygen to make magnesium oxide Heres the word equation: magnesium + oxygen magnesium oxide What it doesnt tell you is that oxygen comes as molecules containing two atoms, or that you need twice as much magnesium as oxygen, or that there is one oxygen atom for every magnesium atom in the product.. But the symbol equation does ! 2 Mg + O2 2 MgO

Two atoms of the element magnesium react with one molecule of the element oxygen (which is two oxygen atoms chemically bonded together)

2 Mg + O2 2 MgO
to form magnesium oxide, which is a compound where there is one magnesium atom for each oxygen atom.
Two magnesium oxides must be made because two magnesium atoms and two oxygen atoms are shown on the left hand side of the equation. O Mg Mg Mg O O O Mg

When a reaction occurs, all the same atoms are there before and after, just joined together in different ways. We show this in a symbol equation by making sure there are the same number of each atom on each side of the equation then it is balanced. We cant change numbers inside the formulae that would make them different substances and it wouldnt be the same reaction. What we do is change how many of each different molecule are involved in the reaction until the equation balances. That means changing numbers in front of formulae. e.g. magnesium + hydrochloric acid magnesium chloride + hydrogen NOT BALANCED: Mg + HCl MgCl2 + H2

All the formulae are correct, but there is more Cl and H on the right than on the left. If I add another HCl to the left side, then everything will balance: BALANCED: Mg + 2 HCl MgCl2 + H2

Hint: Keep a tally of how many of each type of atom you have on each side of the equation while you are trying out different ways of getting it to balance.

When a reaction happens, existing chemical bonds get broken and new chemical bonds get made. All the atoms which are there in the elements or compounds before, are still there afterwards, just chemically bonded together in different ways.

+
This means that the mass of the reactants must be the same as the mass of the products we call this MASS CONSERVATION

reactants

products

Dont get caught out gases (including air) do weigh something !

If the mass decreases during a reaction it is because one of the products has escaped into the atmosphere.
If mass increases during a reaction, it is because something from the atmosphere has combined with the other reactants