The Particle Nature of Matter

Matter
Everything we see or even not seen in the universe is matter. Matter is
anything that occupies space and has mass. Leaves, human hearts, toys,
flour, smoke, and air are examples of matter because they occupy space and
have mass. Light and sound are not examples of matter since they do not
occupy space nor have mass.
Matter is made of tiny particles. These particles are arranged depending on
their states. The arrangement of particles of each state gives matter its own
unique properties. In the pictures below, a solid material, a liquid material,
and a gas inside a balloon can be viewed sub-microscopically as substances
composed of tiny particles.
Solid
It has definite shape and volume because its particles are closely packed
together in a fixed position. These particles vibrate and are held together by
strong attractive forces. It is difficult to compress the particles.
Liquid
It has a definite volume and takes the shape of the container. Liquid flows
easily because its particles have enough space and have less attractive
force. The spaces in the particles allow particles to be compressed a little bit.
Gas
It takes the volume and shape of the container. Gas particles are far from
each other which is why they have the weak attractive force and can flow
easily. They occupy the entire space available. The large spaces in between
particles allows particles to be compressed easily.

The Phase Change

Matter undergoes phase changes. The phase change is a change from one
state to another without changing the chemical composition of a substance.
There are six phase changes that matter can undergo.
Melting is the change of matter from solid state to a liquid state. When
liquid state changes back to a solid state, this phase change is called
freezing/ solidification. Evaporation is changing matter from the liquid
state to gas state, while condensation is the change from the gaseous
state to liquid state. When solid state directly changes to gas without passing
the liquid state, it is called sublimation. In addition, deposition is the
change from a gaseous state directly to solid state.
Increasing the temperature will result in the increase of kinetic energy
(motion) of particles and this will affect the current arrangement of the
particles in solid, liquid and gas. As the temperature and the kinetic energy
are both increase, the tiny particles move, resulting to a farther distance
between the particles.
Decreasing the temperature will result in the decrease of kinetic energy
(motion) of particles, leading to a closer distance between the particles. The
lower the temperature and the kinetic energy, the closer the particles are
together.

Properties of Subatomic Particles

What is an atom?
The word "atom" is derived from the Greek word, “atomos” or indivisible.
Atom is the smallest unit of matter that retains the identity of the substance.
Atom is thought to be the smallest particle of a given element.
What are the subatomic particles and their properties?
Atoms are composed of three types of particles and these are the protons,
electrons, and neutrons. These components of the atom are referred as
subatomic particles. Table 1 shows the properties of these subatomic
particles. The nucleus, which is found at the center of the atom contains
protons (positively charged) and neutrons (no charge). The outermost
regions of the atom contain the electrons (negatively charged).
Subatomic Charge Mass in Grams Location in the
Particles Atom
(symbol)
Electron (e-) -1 9.109 x 10❑−28 Outside the
nucleus
Proton (p+) +1 1.672 x 10❑−24 Inside the
Nucleus
Neutron (n*) 0 1.678 x 10❑24 Inside the
Nucleus

Atoms in their stable state are neutral; its number of protons and electrons
are equal. The mass of an atom is solely due to the mass of the proton and
neutron. The protons and neutrons are referred as nucleons. The nucleons
which are tightly packed together, form the nucleus within the center of the
atom. Thus, much of the mass of an atom is concentrated at the nucleus.

Plum Pudding and Nuclear Models of the

Atom
What did Joseph John Thomson discover?
What is his atomic model called? When the idea of the atom was first
proposed by the ancient Greeks, they thought it was a particle with no parts.
However, towards the 19th century, Joseph John Thomson discovered that
atoms have negatively charged particles, which he called electrons. This led
him to propose a new model for the atom, which he called the plum
pudding model.
What is Rutherford’s Nuclear Model?
A group of scientists composed of Ernest Rutherford, Johannes "Hans"
Wilhelm Geiger and Ernest Marsden tested Thomson’s model by
bombarding a very thin sheet of gold foil with positively charged alpha
particles. Their experiment is referred to as the alpha particle scattering
experiment.
In the raisin bread model, the electrons having a very small mass, are
scattered in a cloud of positive charge. In this region where the electrons are
found, there was no area with a similar charge to the alpha particles that can
be found that can cause its deflection. To account for the few deflections and
the rare occasions of very large deflections, Rutherford, in 1911, suggested a
different structure of the atom where all the positive charge and nearly all
the mass of the atom were concentrated in a very tiny region called the
nucleus, which is found at the center of the atom. The rest of the atom,
where the tiny electrons with very small mass moved, was largely empty
space through which the alpha particles could travel undeflected.

The Number of Subatomic Particles in

Atoms, Ions and Isotopes
What are neutral atoms?
A single atom is said to be electrically neutral if its number of electrons (e- )
is equal to the number of protons (p+). Thus, the atomic number (Z) of an
element also specifies the number of electrons in neutral atom.
Mathematically, for a neutral atom, Z = p+ = e-.
Mass number (A) = number of protons (p+) + number of neutrons
(n0)
Atomic Number (Z) = number of protons (p+) = number of electrons
(e- ) Number of neutron (n0) = mass number (A) – number of
protons (p+)
What are ions?
Atoms may gain charges. This happens when electrons are lost or gained by
the atom. When this happens, the atom becomes an ion. A negative charge
ion (anion) has more electrons than protons. A positive charge ion (cation)
has fewer number of electrons than protons. The net charge of an ion is the
difference between the number of protons and the number of electrons.
charge of ion = number of protons (p+) - number of electrons (e- )
What are isotopes?
Isotopes are atoms having the same atomic number but with different mass
number.
Different isotopes can exist and these can be identified by its respective
mass number. Mass number is the sum of the number of protons and the
number of neutrons in an atom.

Arrangement of Elements
the horizontal rows of the periodic table, called periods.
The vertical columns of the periodic table are called groups or families.
The group number corresponds to the number of electrons in their outermost
shell. These outermost electrons are called valence electrons. The
elements in group of the periodic table have similar chemical properties.
Group 1: Alkali Metals
 very reactive, soft, malleable, and ductile
 good conductors of heat and electricity
 with only one valence electron
Group 2: Alkaline Earth Metals
 second most reactive elements
 malleable, ductile, and good conductors of heat and electricity but not as
soft as Group 1 elements
 with two valence electrons
Groups 3-12: Transition Metals
 hard (with Mercury as an exception)
 malleable, ductile, and good conductors of electricity
 with one and/or two valence electrons
Group 13: Boron Group
 are post-transition metals, except for Boron which is a metalloid and
Nihonium which is an extremely radioactive synthetic chemical element
 with three valence electrons
Group 14: Carbon Group
 also known as the Carbon family, or the tetrels
 elements in this family are the key importance for semiconductor
technology
 with four valence electrons
Group 15: Nitrogen Group
 known as Pnictogen group
 with five valence electrons
Group 16: Chalcogens
 Chalcogen is the new trivial name recognized by the International Union of
Pure and Applied Chemistry
 widely known as the Oxygen group
 generally, nonmetals
 with six valence electrons
Group 17: Halogens
 salt former
 exist in all three states of matter
 with seven valence electrons
Group 18: Noble Gases
 stable gases
 non-reactive or inert elements
 with eight valence electrons except Helium
the lanthanides and actinides series. They are special series of elements but
are also part of the transition block. They are also called the inner
transition elements.

Reactive and Nonreactive Metals

A reaction does not always happen between a metal and a compound. There
is an existing definite order of reactivity among metals and hydrogen
according to their ability to displace one another. A less reactive metal
cannot replace a more reactive metal; hence no reaction will occur. On the
other hand, a more reactive metal can replace a less reactive metal and will
produce a reaction. To determine the less or more reactive metals refer to
the Activity Series of Metals.