7
Atoms – Constituent Parts
•
•Atoms contain 3 kinds of particles:
–Electrons – in orbits Negatively charged Very low mass (1/1836 mp)
–Protons   -- in nucleus Positively charged      More “massive”
–Neutrons – in nucleus Electrically neutral     mn » mp
–
•# of protons (Z) determines charge of nucleus Þ electrical properties Þ element
–Chemical reactions involve sharing/exchanging electrons  (See periodic table  A-16)
–Hydrogen:  Z=1
–Helium:      Z=2
–Lithium:     Z=3
–Carbon:      Z=6
–
•# of protons  and  # of neutrons   determines mass and nuclear properties
–Same element (same Z) but different # of neutrons Þ isotope of same element
–Isotopes behave same chemically, but have different nuclear properties
– 1H = 1 proton,   0 neutrons  (regular hydrogen)
– 2H = 1 proton,   1 neutron   (deuterium)
– 3H = 1 proton,   2 neutrons  (tritium)
–4He= 2 protons, 2 neutrons  (regular helium)
–12C = 6 protons, 6 neutrons  (regular carbon)        14C = ???