1. Chapter 4 Atoms and Elements
4.3 The Atom
Learning Goal Describe the electrical charge and location in an atom for a proton, a neutron and an electron.
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2. The Atom
All elements listed on the periodic table are made up of atoms. An atom is the smallest particle of an element.
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

3. Dalton's Atomic Theory
The idea of atoms did not become scientific theory until 1808.
John Dalton (1766–1844) developed an atomic theory proposing that atoms were responsible for the combinations of elements in compounds.

4. Dalton's Atomic Theory
1. All matter is made up of tiny particles called atoms.
2. All atoms of a given element are identical to one another and different from atoms of other elements.

5. Dalton's Atomic Theory
3. Atoms of two or more different elements combine to form compounds. A particular compound is always made up of the same kinds of atoms and the same number of each kind of atom.
4. A chemical reaction involves the rearrangement, separation, or combination of atoms. Atoms are never created or destroyed in a chemical reaction.

6. Atoms
Atoms are
the building blocks of everything around us
too small to see with the naked eye
A small sample of nickel
contains many, many
nickel atoms.

7. Electrical Charges in an Atom
By the end of the 1880s,
experiments with electricity showed that atoms were composed of tiny particles, called subatomic particles including protons, neutrons, and electrons
it was shown that some subatomic particles in an atom have charge

8. Electrical Charges in an Atom
Electrical charges can be positive or negative as when
two positive charges repel each other
two negative charges repel each other
unlike charges attract each other

9. Structure of an Atom
In 1897, J. J. Thomson
discovered that cathode rays were streams of small negatively charged particles called electrons
proposed the “plum pudding” model of an atom in which protons and electrons were distributed throughout the atom

10. Structure of an Atom
J. J. Thomson’s “plum pudding” model had protons and electrons scattered throughout the atom.

11. Structure of an Atom
In 1911, Ernest Rutherford worked with J. J. Thomson and developed a new structure for the atom based on Rutherford’s gold foil experiments.

12. The Structure of an Atom
From the gold foil experiments, Rutherford realized that atoms contained
a small region in the center with positive charge called the nucleus
a region of space around the center of the atoms occupied by electrons

13. The Structure of an Atom
The positively charged particles are called protons, and the negatively charged particles are called electrons.
If an atom were the size of a football stadium, the size of the nucleus would be the size of a golf ball in the center of the field.

14. The Structure of an Atom
In 1932, James Chadwick discovered that the nucleus of the atom also contained neutral particles called neutrons.
In an atom, the protons and neutrons that make up almost all the mass of the atom are packed into the tiny volume of the nucleus. The rapidly moving electrons (negative charge) surround the nucleus and account for the large volume of the atom.

15. Mass of the Atom
The mass of the atom is due to the protons and neutrons in the nucleus. Electrons have a much smaller mass.
Chemists use a unit called atomic mass unit (amu), defined as one-twelfth of the mass of the carbon atom with 6 protons and 6 neutrons.
The mass of all elements in the periodic table is compared to the mass of this carbon atom.

16. Mass of an Atom
On the amu scale, the mass of a proton and a neutron have a mass of about 1 amu.

17. Learning Check
Is each of the following statements true or false?
A. The mass of an electron is greater than the mass of a proton.
B. Protons have a positive charge, and electrons have a negative charge.
C. The nucleus of an atom contains only the protons and neutrons.

18. Solution
Is each of the following statements true or false?
A. The mass of an electron is greater than the mass of a proton False
B. Protons have a positive charge, and electrons have a negative charge. True
C. The nucleus of an atom contains only the protons and neutrons. True