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Cambridge O Level Chemistry Your notes

2.2 Atomic Structure & the Periodic Table

Contents
Atomic Structure
Electronic Configuration

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Atomic Structure
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Atomic Structure
All substances are made of tiny particles of matter called atoms which are the building blocks of all
matter
Each atom is made of subatomic particles called protons, neutrons, and electrons
The protons and neutrons are located at the centre of the atom, which is called the nucleus
The electrons move very fast around the nucleus in orbital paths called shells
The mass of the electron is negligible, hence the mass of an atom is contained within the nucleus where
the protons and neutrons are located

The structure of the carbon atom

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Protons, Neutrons & Electrons

The size of atoms is so tiny that we can't really compare their masses in conventional units such as Your notes
kilograms or grams, so a unit called the relative atomic mass is used
One relative atomic mass unit is equal to 1/12th the mass of a carbon-12 atom.
All other elements are measured relative to the mass of a carbon-12 atom, so relative atomic mass has
no units
Hydrogen for example has a relative atomic mass of 1, meaning that 12 atoms of hydrogen would have
exactly the same mass as 1 atom of carbon
The relative mass and charge of the sub-atomic particles are shown below:
Table of Subatomic Particles

Particle Relative Mass Charge

Proton 1 1+

Neutron 1 0 (neutral)

Electron 1/1840 1-

Examiner Tip
Knowing the exact mass of an electron is not in the specification and saying it is almost nothing or
negligible will be sufficient. It does, however, sometimes appear in particle identification questions,
but you can usually deduce that it is the electrons from other information in the question.

Defining Proton Number

The atomic number (or proton number) is the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom
The symbol for atomic number is Z
It is also the number of electrons present in a neutral atom and determines the position of the element
on the Periodic Table

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Defining Mass Number

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The Nucleon number (or mass number) is the total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an
atom
The symbol for nucleon number is A
The nucleon number minus the proton number gives you the number of neutrons of an atom
Note that protons and neutrons can collectively be called nucleons.
The atomic number and mass number of an element can be shown using atomic notation
The Periodic Table shows the elements together with their atomic (proton) number at the top and
relative atomic mass at the bottom - there is a difference between relative atomic mass and mass
number, but for your exam, you can use the relative atomic mass as the mass number (with the
exception of chlorine)

Diagram showing atomic notation

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Atomic notation for carbon

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Examiner Tip
Both the atomic number and the relative atomic number (which you can use as the mass number) are
given on the Periodic Table but it can be easy to confuse them. Think MASS = MASSIVE, as the mass
number is always the bigger of the two numbers, the other smaller one is thus the atomic / proton
number. Beware that some Periodic Tables show the numbers the other way round with the atomic
number at the bottom!

Deducing protons, neutrons & electrons

Finding the protons
The atomic number of an atom and ion determines which element it is
Therefore, all atoms and ions of the same element have the same number of protons (atomic number)
in the nucleus
E.g. lithium has an atomic number of 3 (three protons) whereas beryllium has atomic number of 4
(four protons)
The number of protons equals the atomic (proton) number
The number of protons of an unknown element can be calculated by using its mass number and
number of neutrons:
Mass number = number of protons + number of neutrons
Number of protons = mass number – number of neutrons
Finding the electrons
An atom is neutral and therefore has the same number of protons and electrons
Finding the neutrons
The mass and atomic numbers can be used to find the number of neutrons in ions and atoms:
Number of neutrons = mass number – number of protons

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Worked example
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Determine the number of protons, electrons and neutrons in an atom of element X with atomic number
29 and mass number 63.
Answer:
The number of protons of element X is the same as the atomic number
Number of protons = 29
The neutral atom of element X therefore also has 29 electrons
The atomic number of an element X atom is 29 and its mass number is 63
Number of neutrons = mass number – number of protons
Number of neutrons = 63 – 29
Number of neutrons = 34

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Electronic Configuration
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Electronic Configuration
Electronic configuration
We can represent the structure of the atom in two ways: using diagrams called electron shell diagrams
or by writing out a special notation called the electronic configuration (or electronic structure or
electron distribution)

Electron shell diagrams

Electrons orbit the nucleus in shells (or energy levels) and each shell has a different amount of energy
associated with it
The further away from the nucleus, the more energy a shell has
Electrons fill the shell closest to the nucleus
When a shell becomes full of electrons, additional electrons have to be added to the next shell
The first shell can hold 2 electrons
The second shell can hold 8 electrons
For this course, a simplified model is used that suggests that the third shell can hold 8 electrons
For the first 20 elements, once the third shell has 8 electrons, the fourth shell begins to fill
The outermost shell of an atom is called the valence shell and an atom is much more stable if it can
manage to completely fill this shell with electrons

A simplified model showing the electron shells

The arrangement of electrons in shells can also be explained using numbers
Instead of drawing electron shell diagrams, the number of electrons in each electron shell can be
written down, separated by commas
This notation is called the electronic configuration (or electronic structure)

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E.g. Carbon has 6 electrons, 2 in the 1st shell and 4 in the 2nd shell
Its electronic configuration is 2,4
Electronic configurations can also be written for ions Your notes
E.g. A sodium atom has 11 electrons, a sodium ion has lost one electron, therefore has 10 electrons;
2 in the first shell and 8 in the 2nd shell
Its electronic configuration is 2,8
The Electronic Configuration of the First Twenty Elements

Element Atomic Number Electronic Configuration

hydrogen 1 1

helium 2 2

lithium 3 2,1

berylium 4 2,2

boron 5 2,3

carbon 6 2,4

nitrogen 7 2,5

oxygen 8 2,6

fluorine 9 2,7

neon 10 2,8

sodium 11 2,8,1

magnesium 12 2,8,2

aluminium 13 2,8,3

silicon 14 2,8,4

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phosphorus 15 2,8,5
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sulfur 16 2,8,6

chlorine 17 2,8,7

argon 18 2,8,8

potassium 19 2,8,8,1

calcium 20 2,8,8,2

Note: although the third shell can hold up to 18 electrons, the filling of the shells follows a more
complicated pattern after potassium and calcium. For these two elements, the third shell holds 8 and the
remaining electrons (for reasons of stability) occupy the fourth shell first before filling the third shell.

Electronic Configuration of Ions

Ions are formed when an atom loses or gains electrons to become stable
Positively charged ions are formed when an atom loses electrons
Negatively charged ions are formed when an atom gains electrons
The size of the charge indicates the number of electrons that have been lost or gained
To find the electronic configuration of an ion:
Identify the electronic configuration for the atom
Identify whether it has lost or gained electrons from its charge
Add or remove electrons depending on the charge of the atom

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Worked example
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1. Give the electronic configuration for the magnesium ion, Mg2+.
Answer:
A magnesium atom has 12 electrons so has the electronic configuration 2,8,2
Magnesium has a 2+ charge which means it has lost two electrons
These electrons are lost from the outer shell so the electronic configuration is 2.8
2. Give the electronic configuration for the chloride ion, Cl-
Answer:
A chlorine atom has 17 electrons so has the electronic configuration 2,8,7
Chlorine has a 1- charge which means it has gained two electrons
The electronic configuration is therefore 2,8,8

Examiner Tip
You need to be able to write the electronic configuration of the first twenty elements and their ions.
You may see electronic configurations using full stops or '+' signs instead of commas. You would not
be penalised for using full stops.

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Electron Shells & The Periodic Table

There is a clear relationship between the electronic configuration and how the Periodic Table is Your notes
designed
The number of notations in the electronic configuration will show the number of occupied shells of
electrons the atom has, showing the period in which that element is in
The last notation shows the number of outer electrons the atom has, showing the group that element is
in (for elements in Groups I to VII)
Elements in the same group have the same number of outer shell electrons

The electronic configuration for chlorine

Period: The red numbers at the bottom show the number of notations which is 3, showing that a chlorine
atom has 3 occupied shells of electrons and is in Period 3
Group: The final notation, which is 7 in the example, shows that a chlorine atom has 7 outer electrons and is
in Group VII

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Your notes

The position of chlorine on the Periodic Table

In most atoms, the outermost shell is not full and therefore these atoms react with other atoms in order
to achieve a full outer shell of electrons (which would make them more stable)
In some cases, atoms lose electrons to entirely empty this shell so that the next shell below becomes a
(full) outer shell
All elements wish to fill their outer shells with electrons as this is a much more stable configuration
The noble gases
The atoms of the Group VIII elements (the noble gases) all have a full outer shell of electrons
All of the noble gases are unreactive as they have full outer shells and are thus very stable

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The noble gases are on the Periodic Table in Group 8/0

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Examiner Tip
The electrons in the outer shell are also known as valency electrons.

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