PARTICLES

1. Atomic Structure
What is the Universe made of?
BUT HOW DID WE COME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT
THIS IS THE CORRECT STRUCTURE OF THE ATOM?
Electrons were first identified by JJ Thomson in 1897
through experiments on electrical discharge tubes.
 Most  particles are
hardly deflected

particle
nucleus

About 1 in every 8,000 are

deflected by more than 90

Rutherford knew that the alpha particles were very

energetic. He likened the result to firing a shell through
tissue paper. The results were absolutely astounding!
 Structure of an atom
• An atom consists of a central
positively charged nucleus atomic diameter ~ 10 – 10 m

containing protons and

neutrons (nucleons)
• Diameter approx. 10-15 m
(1 femtometre, fm)
• Electrons surround the
nucleus
• Atomic diameter approx.
10-10 m = roughly 100 000 x
nucleus diameter nucleus diameter ~ 10 – 15 m

If the entire atom were the size of Wembley stadium, the

nucleus would be the size of a pea at the very centre!
 We cannot see individual atoms –
they are too small. But we can use a
scanning tunnelling microscope.

This is a scanning tunnelling

microscope image of a 2-atom-
thick lead film.

But we need to have a “model” in our mind:

e.g. sometimes we can just imagine a billiard ball as the
whole atom
or: sometimes we need to think about what’s inside the
atom – the nucleus (with nucleons) and the surrounding
electrons
or: sometimes we need to think specifically about the
nucleus.
A Model of the Atom:

But does an
Electron atom actually
look like this?
Nucleus

 the overall charge on an atom is zero;

 electrons can be removed to make a positive ion;
 electrons can be added to make a negative ion;
 the electrons exists in fixed energy levels (sometimes called
“shells”) far from the nucleus;
 the positive charge resides in the nucleus (protons);
 there are also neutral particles in the nucleus (neutrons).
Particle Charge / Relative Mass Relative
C Charge /kg Mass
(amu)
Proton 1.602×10−19 C
+1 1
(p+)
1.67×10-27

Neutron 0 0 1.6749 x 10-27  1

(n0) 9.10938 x 10-31

Electron -1 0.00055
-1.602×10−19 C

(1/2000)
(e-) The neutron has almost the same mass as
the proton … but not quite. The neutron
actually has a very slightly higher mass,
which will become more evident later…
A unit of mass is the:

atomic mass unit (AMU)

This is defined precisely as one twelfth the mass of an

atom of carbon-12. (Carbon-12 has six protons and six
neutrons in the nucleus.)

This is – imprecisely – the average of the proton rest mass

and the neutron rest mass.

Don’t worry about the AMU for now –

you will come across it again in nuclear
physics (and also chemistry).
SPECIFIC CHARGE
The specific charge of a charged particle is defined as its
charge divided by its mass:
EXAMPLE 1
EXAMPLE 2
EXAMPLE 3
 Specific Charge
 The specific charge of a charged
particle is defined as its charge
divided by its mass: charge
specific charge 
mass

 Calculate the specific 9.58

chargex 107for:-
C kg-1
1) A hydrogen nucleus (1H). 3.70 x 107 C kg-1
2) A uranium nucleus (238 U) -1
-1.76 x 10 C kg
11

3) The electron.
4) Doubly ionised 24Mg 8.04
(massx 10is
6 3.98
C kg-1 x
What is an isotope?

Isotopes are atoms with the same number of

protons and different numbers of neutrons.
 ISOTOPE NOTATION
Different atoms are distinguished by their numbers
of protons and neutrons.  We write the symbols
using the following notation:
Z is the proton
A is called the number or the
nucleon number, or atomic number,
the mass number. It which is the number
is the total number of protons. The
of nucleons. number of protons
determines the
element.
X is the chemical symbol
 ISOTOPE NOTATION
 We can determine the number of neutrons
simply by subtracting the proton number
from the nucleon number.  ( No. of neutrons
= A – Z).
 Isotopes have the same numbers of protons,
but different numbers of neutrons.
 Isotopes have the same physical and
chemical properties.
 If the proton number is altered, the element
changes.
 Some isotopes are radioactive, as the nuclei
are unstable.