CHAPTER -4

STRUCTUREOF THE ATOM

CLASS - IX

MADE BY : SHIVA PRASAD

SCHOOL K.V. 2, SADRAS, KALPAKKAM
la) Charged particlesin matter
Atoms have three types of sub atomic particles. They are electrons,
protons and neutrons.
Electrons are negatively charged (e), protons are positively
charged (p") and neutrons have no charge (n).
The mass of an electron is 1/2000 the mass of a hydrogen atom. The
mass of a proton is equal to the mass of a hydrogen atom and is taken
as 1 unit. The mass of a neutron is equal to the mass of a hydrogen
atom and is and is taken as 1 unit.

b) Discovery of sub atomic particles

In 1900, J.J.Thomson discovered thepresence of the negatively
charged particles called electrons in the atom.
In 1886, E.Goldstein discovered new
radiations in gas discharge and
called them canal rays. These rays were positively charged. This later
led to the discovery of the positively charged particles called protons in
the atom.
In 1932 Chadwick discovered the presence of particles having no
charge in the atom called neutrons.
2) Structureof an atom
a)Thomson's modelof an atom
According to Thomson an atom is similar to a Christmas pudding.
pudding the electrons having negative
The had positive charge and
charge were like plums on the pudding.
He proposed that :
i) An atom consists of a positively charged sphere and the electrons are
embedded in it.
The negative and positive charges are equal in magnitude So the
i)atom as a whole is electricaly
neutral
Thom son's atomic model
Negative
electron
plums

Positive pudding 10 m
b)Rutherford's model of an atom:
Rutherford's alphascatteringexperiment-
Rutherford allowed a beam of fast moving alpha particles ( a-
particles) having positive charge to fall on a thin gold foil. He observed
that
i) Most of the a -

particles passed straight through the gold foil.

i) Some of the a - particles were slightly deflected by small angles.

ii) Very fewa- particles appeared to rebound

ectron clou
Most alpha particles are undeflected

A few alpha particles are slightly

deflected
Apha panic

A few alpha particles bounce off

Nucleus
revisionworid
 Conclusions from Rutherford's alpha scattering
experiment:
i) Most of the space inside an atom is empty. (because most of the a

particles passed straight through the gold foil.)

i) The atom had a small nucleus having positive charge. ( because
some of the a -

particles having positive charge were slightly

deflected by small angles.)
ii) The size of the nucleus is very small compared to the size of the
atom. (because very few a- particles appeared to rebound and
most of the positive charge and mass of the atom is in the nucleus.)
Rutherford'smodel of an atom
i) An atom has a positively charged nucleus at its centre and most of
the mass of the atom is in the nucleus.
i) The electrons revolve around the nucleus in different orbits.
ii) The size of the nucleus is very small compared to the size of the
atom.
Defects of Rutherford's modeloftheatom
Any particle in a circular orbit would undergo acceleration
and during acceleration the charged particle would radiate
energy. So the revolving electrons would lose energy and
fall into the nucleus and the atom would be unstable. We
know that atoms are stable.
Rutherford's model
of an atom

Negatively charged
electron
Negat vely charged
lectro nuceu
electrons in orbits
around ihe

Very small positively

charged nucleus Positlvely charged
nuceus
c)Bohr's
) An
model
has
atom
of an atom
positively charged nucleus
a at its centre and most of
the mass of the atom is in the nucleus.
i) The electrons revolve around the nucleus in special orbits called
discrete orbits.
i) These orbits are called shells or energy levels and are represented
by the letters K, L, M, N etc. or numbered as 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.
iv) While revoving in the discrete orbits the electrons do not radiate
energy. Shells or energy levels in an atom
N Shell

M Shell

Shell

K Shell

Positvely charged
Nucleus
3)Distribution of electrons in different shells
The distribution of electrons in the different shells was
suggested by Bhor and Bury. The following are the rules for
filling electrons in the different shells.
i) The maximum number of electrons in a shell is given by
the formula 2n2 where n is the number of the shell 1, 2, 3
etc.
First shell or K shell can have 2n 2x 1 2x1x1 = 2 electrons

Second shell or L shell can have = 2n = 2 x 22 = 2x2x2 = 8 electrons

Third shell or M shell can have = 2n= 2x 33 = 2x3x3 = 18 electrons

Fourth shell or N shell can have = 2n= 2x 42= 2x4x4 =

32electrons
and so on.
ii) The maximum number of electrons that can be filled in
the outermost shell is 8.
ii) Electrons cannot be filled in a shell unless the inner
shells are filled.
Composition ofthe atoms of the first eighteen elements
Name of Symbol Atomic Number of Number of Number of Distribution Valency
element Number Protons Neutrons Electrons O f Electrons

KLM N
Hydrogen
Helium e

Lithium

Berylium
Boron
Carbon
Nitrogen N

Oxygen
Fluorine
Neon 10 10 10

Sodium
Magnesium Mg 12 2 12 2

Aluminium 3 4

Silicon 4

Phosphoruss P 15 15 16

Sulphur
Chlorine 17 18 17
Atomicstructureof thefirst eighteen elements

H He

@@@@@@
Li Be B N Ne

Na Mg Si CI Ar
4)Valency
Valency is the combining capacity of an atom of an element.
The electrons present in the outermost shell of an atom are called
valence electrons.
.Ifan atom's outermost
reactive and their
shell is completely filled, they are inert
is zero.
or

least combining capacity

or valency
Of the inert elements Helium atom has 2 electrons in the outermost
shell and the atoms of other elements have 8 electrons in their
outermost shell. Atoms having 8 electrons in their outermost shell is
having octet configuration and are stable.
Ifan atom'soutermost shellis not completely filledelectrons
itis notstable.
sharing with
It
Will try to attain stability by losing, gaining
other atoms to attain octet
or
configuration.
The number of electrons lost, gained or shared by an atom to attain
Octet configuration is the combining capacity or valency of the element
Eg:- Hydrogen, Lithium, Sodium atoms can easily lose 1 electron
and become stable. So their valency is 1. Magnesium can easily lose2
electrons. So its valency is 2. Aluminiun can easily lose 3 electrons. So
its valency is 3. Carbon shares 4 electrons. So its valency is 4.
Fluorine can easily gain 1electron and become stable. So its
valencyIscan
1. Oxygen caneasily gain 2 electrons. So its valency is 2.
Nitrogen easily gain 3 electrons. So ts valency Is 3.
5)Atomic number and Mass number
a) Atomic number (Z)
The atomic number of an element is the number of protons present in the
nucleus of the atom of the element.
All the atoms of an element have the same atomic number.
Eg-Hydrogen Atomic
Helium
number = 1 (1 proton)
Atomic num ber = 2 (2 protons)
-

Lithium Atomic number =3

(3 protons)
b) Mass number (A)
The mass number of an element is the sum of the number of protons and
neutrons (nucleons) present in the nucleus of an atom of the element.

The mass of an atom is mainly the mass of the protons and neutrons in the
nucleus of the atom.

Eg-Carbon- Mass number =12 (6 protons +6 neutrons) Mass = 12u

Aluminium - Mass number = 27 (13 protons+ 14 neutrons) Mass = 27u

Sulphur Mass number = 32 (16 protons+ 16 neutrons) Mass = 32u

In the notation of an atom the Mass number

atomic number and mass number Symbol of
elementEg N
are written as Atomic number
5)Isotopes
Isotopes are atoms of the element having the
same
same atomic numbers but different mass numbers.
Eg-Hydrogen has three isotopes. They are Protium,
Th Naclei d the Thune botopa ofl Hyerugn
Deuterium (D) and Tritium (T)
Frotuus Deulerium Triium

,H H H
Protium Deuterium Tritium
has two isotopes. They are
Carbon
2
i. pr *

Chlorine has two isotopes They are:

CI 7CI c C

Mase N u m b e r A

C2

Atomic Number 2
6) Isobars
Isobars are atoms of different elements having different
atomic numbers but same mass numbers.
These pairs of elements have the same number of
nucleons.
Eg:-Calcium (Ca) - atomic number - 20 and Argon (Ar)

-atomic number 18 have different atomic numbers but

have the same mass numbers - 40.

A0 AT
2Ca 18
Iron (Fe) and Nickel (Ni) have different atomic
numbers but have the same atomic mass numbers 58.

Fe 7Ni