September 9th, 2011 There should be a ‘mystery’ box at the front of your row. Make observations about the box WITHOUT opening it. Write this in your ‘Starter’ section for todays date
Introduction to the Atom Basic unit of matter!! Composed of subatomic particles: Protons Neutrons Electrons
Protons Found in the nucleus Positively charged Dictates the identity of the atom Comparable in size to neutrons
Neutrons Found in the nucleus Neutral in charge Mass is slightly larger than protons Determines the isotope of an element
Electrons Found outside the nucleus Negatively charged Very small compared to neutrons and protons There are the same amount of electrons as there are protons, unless there is a charge on the ion
Quick Vocabulary Ion – an atom or a molecule where the number of electrons equals the number of protons Isotope – variants of atoms of a particular element, which have different amounts of neutrons
Nuclear Symbol Common notation to indicate the atomic number and mass number of an isotope Also indicates the charge of the ion (positive charge means less electrons than protons, and a negative charge means more electrons)
Hyphen Notation C – 14 C – 16 Notation used to show Isotopes Written as: Element – Mass # C – 12 C – 14 C – 16