CHAPTER 2

THE STRUCTURE OF THE ATOM

Determining the physical state of a

substance at a certain temperature

Example:

1. Ethanol has a melting point of -117C and its boiling point is 78C.
Complete the table below.
Temperature / C

Physical state

-120

Solid

30
85
78
0

Example:

1. Ethanol has a melting point of -117C and its boiling point is 78C.
Complete the table below.
Temperature / C

Physical state

-120

Solid

30

Liquid

85

Gas

78

Liquid and gas

Liquid

2. The table below shows the melting points and the boiling points of four
substances. Complete the table.

Substance

Melting
point / C

Boiling
point / C

Physical state at

0 C
A

-100

-35

-7

58

-6

225

44

280

-50 C

300 C

2. The table below shows the melting points and the boiling points of four
substances. Complete the table.

Substance

Melting
point / C

Boiling
point / C

-100

-35

-7

58

-6

225

44

280

Physical state at

0 C

-50 C

300 C

Gas

Liquid

Gas

2. The table below shows the melting points and the boiling points of four
substances. Complete the table.

Substance

Melting
point / C

Boiling
point / C

Physical state at

0 C

-50 C

300 C

-100

-35

Gas

Liquid

Gas

-7

58

Liquid

Solid

Gas

-6

225

44

280

2. The table below shows the melting points and the boiling points of four
substances. Complete the table.

Substance

Melting
point / C

Boiling
point / C

Physical state at

0 C

-50 C

300 C

-100

-35

Gas

Liquid

Gas

-7

58

Liquid

Solid

Gas

-6

225

Liquid

Solid

Gas

44

280

2. The table below shows the melting points and the boiling points of four
substances. Complete the table.

Substance

Melting
point / C

Boiling
point / C

Physical state at

0 C

-50 C

300 C

-100

-35

Gas

Liquid

Gas

-7

58

Liquid

Solid

Gas

-6

225

Liquid

Solid

Gas

44

280

Solid

Solid

Gas

Substance

Melting
point / C

Boiling
point / C

-197

-166

55

138

115

144

-71

58

3. The table above shows the melting points and the boiling points of substance
W, X, Y and Z. Which substance is in solid state at 100 C ?
Answer: Y

(c) The inter-conversion of the states of

matter
(i)

Heating a substance (from solid state liquid state gaseous state)

The heating curve obtained:

B C: The temperature does not increase during heating because the heat
energy absorbed is used to overcome the forces of attraction between the
particles. This causes the substance to change from solid to liquid.
D E: The temperature remains unchanged during heating because the heat
energy absorbed is used to overcome the forces of attraction between the
particles of the liquid.

(ii) Cooling a substance (from gaseous state liquid state solid state

Q R: The temperature remains unchanged during cooling because the heat

energy liberated during the formation of bonds is exactly balanced by the heat
lost to the surroundings.
S T: The stronger bonds formed during freezing release heat energy. The heat
energy released is the same as the energy lost to the surroundings during
cooling. Thus the temperature remains unchanged.

2.2 ATOMIC STRUCTURE

The historical development of atomic models

1.

In 1805, John Dalton proposed his atomic theory of matter:

(a)

All matter is made of atoms

(b)

Atoms are indestructible

(c)

All atoms of one element are exactly the same, but they are different from atoms
of another elements.

(d)

Atoms combine in a small whole numbers to form compounds

2.

In 1897, J.J Thomson discovered electrons.

3.

In 1911, Ernest Rutherford discovered protons.

He said that the mass of an atom is concentrated in the nucleus which
contains positively-charged particles.

4.

In 1913, Neils Bohr suggested that electrons are found in shells orbiting at
fixed distances from the nucleus.

5.

In 1932, James Chadwick proved that neutrons exist.

He discovered that the neutron is found in the nucleus.

Subatomic particles of an atom

Tiny particles in an atom is called subatomic particles.

They are protons, electrons and neutrons.

Proton number & Nucleon number

1.

Proton number, Z the number of protons in an atom of an element.

2.

Nucleon number, A the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an

atom.
A=p+n
A=Z+n
n =A Z

3.

Atoms are neutral particles, so the number of protons is equal to the number
of electrons.

4.

The standard representation for an atom of an element is:

Eg:

Example

Calculation involving proton number and

nucleon number
Example:
1.

Element X has a proton number of 13 and the nucleon number of 27. what is
the number of protons, neutrons and electrons of element X ?
p = 13
n = 27-13
= 14
e = 13

2.

An atom of element Y has 22 neutrons and 18 electrons. What is the proton

number and the nucleon number of element Y?

Proton number = e
= 18
Nucleon number = p + n
= 18 + 22
= 40