Fundamentals of

Chemistry
Academic year: 2023 - 2024

Atomic structures

Dr. Lê Hồng Luyến

Department of Life Sciences, USTH
Email: [email protected] 1
Content of this lesson

• Atomic structure
• Electrons in atoms
• Atomic orbitals
• Electronic configuration

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Atomic structure

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 Elements
• Elements cannot be broken down further into simpler
substances by chemical means.
• Most of elements are found in combination with other
elements as compounds.
E.g.: ???

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 Element symbols
1 Hydrogen H
ˈhaɪdrədʒən ˌæljəˈmɪniəm;ˌæləˈ
2 Helium He
ˈhiːliəm mɪniəm
13 Aluminium Al
3 Lithium Li
ˈlɪθiəm ˌæljəˈmɪniəm;ˌæləˈ
4 Beryllium Be
bəˈrɪliəm mɪniəm
ˈbɔːrɒn 14 Silicon Si ˈsɪlɪkən
5 Boron B
ˈbɔːrɑːn ˈfɒsfərəs
15 Phosphorus P
ˈkɑːbən ˈfɑːsfərəs
6 Carbon C
ˈkɑːrbən ˈsʌlfə(r)
16 Sulfur S
7 Nitrogen N ˈnaɪtrədʒən ˈsʌlfər
ˈɒksɪdʒən 17 Chlorine Cl ˈklɔːriːn
8 Oxygen O
ˈɑːksɪdʒən ˈɑːɡɒn
ˈflɔːriːn;ˈflʊəriːn 18 Argon Ar
9 Fluorine F
ˈflɔːriːn;ˈflʊriːn ˈklɔːriːn
ˈniːɒn 19 Potassium K pəˈtæsiəm
10 Neon Ne
ˈniːɑːn 20 Calcium Ca ˈkælsiəm
ˈsəʊdiəm ˈkrəʊmiəm
11 Sodium Na 24 Chromium Cr
ˈsoʊdiəm ˈkroʊmiəm 5
12 Magnesium Mg mæɡˈniːziəm
 Element symbols
25 Manganese Mn ˈmæŋɡəniːz 42 Molybdenum Mo məˈlɪbdənəm
ˈaɪən ˈsɪlvə(r)
26 Iron Fe 47 Silver Ag
ˈaɪərn ˈsɪlvər
ˈkəʊbɔːlt 48 Cadmium Cd ˈkædmiəm
27 Cobalt Co
ˈkoʊbɔːlt ˈbeəriəm
56 Barium Ba
28 Nickel Ni ˈnɪkl ˈberiəm
ˈkɒpə(r) 74 Tungsten W ˈtʌŋstən
29 Copper Cu
ˈkɑːpər 78 Platinum Pt ˈplætɪnəm
30 Zinc Zn zɪŋk ɡəʊld
79 Gold Au
31 Gallium Ga ˈɡæliəm ɡoʊld
ˈɑːsnɪk ˈmɜːkjəri
33 Arsenic As 80 Mercury Hg
ˈɑːrsnɪk ˈmɜːrkjəri
34 Selenium Se səˈliːniəm 82 Lead Pb led
ˈbrəʊmiːn 83 Bismuth Bi ˈbɪzməθ
35 Bromine Br
ˈbroʊmiːn 92 Uranium U juˈreɪniəm
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 Elements
• What is the most abundant element in the
Earth’s crust/ the Sun/ our body?

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 Elements and atoms
• Chemical elements contain only one type of atoms
• An atom is the smallest part of an element that can
take part in a chemical change.
• Atoms are very small.
E.g.: The diameter of a hydrogen atom is ~ 10–10 m
• The mass of an atom is very small.
E.g.: A single hydrogen atom weighs only 1.67 × 10–27 kg

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 Inside the atom
• An atom is made up of which particles?

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Atom structure

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 Atom structure
Composition of an atom:
- Nucleus (proton and neutron)
- Electron

Charges:
- A proton: (+) charge
- An electron: (-) charge
- A neutron: no charge

Volume:
- Vnucleus << Vatom
- The atom is basically empty
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 Atom structure
matom (> 99.9 %) = mproton + mneutron
- mproton ≈ mneutron
- mproton ≈ 1840 melectron

Actual charge Relative

Particle Mass (g)
(C) charge
Electron 9.1094 x 10-28 -1.6022 x 10-19 -1
Proton 1.6726 x 10-24 + 1.6022 x 10-19 +1
Neutron 1.6749 x 10-24 0 0

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 Atom structure
• Every atom of the same element has the same
number of protons in its nucleus.

Atomic number (Z): Nproton

Mass number (A): Nproton + Nneutron

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 Isotopes
• All atoms of the same element have the same number of
protons.
• Atoms of the same element that have different
numbers of neutrons are called isotopes.
• Isotopes of a particular element have the same chemical
properties.
• Isotopes can be
• Stable (Non-radioactive): 2H, 12C, 13C, 15N, 16O, …
• Radioactive: 3H, 14C, 234U

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Isotopes

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 Ions
• In a neutral atom: p = e
• When an atom gains or loses electrons à
ions are formed

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 Ions

Deduce the number of electrons and

neutrons in each of these ions:

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Electrons in atoms

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 Simple electronic structure
• Electrons are arranged outside the
nucleus in energy levels or quantum shells
(symbol n)
• Energy level: n=1 < n=2 < n=3…
• Electronic configuration: the arrangement of
electrons in an atom

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 Simple electronic structure
• Each principal quantum shell can hold a maximum
number of electrons:

■ shell 1 – up to 2 electrons
■ shell 2 – up to 8 electrons
■ shell 3 – up to 18 electrons
■ shell 4 – up to 32 electrons

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Simple electronic structure

Write the simple electronic configuration of the following

atoms, showing the principal quantum shells only:

a. Sulfur, Z = 16
b. Magnesium, Z = 12
c. Fluorine, Z = 9
d. Potassium, Z = 19
e. Carbon, Z = 6

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 Subshells
• Each principal quantum shell contains a different
number of subshells: s, p, d, f
• The energy of electrons in the subshells
increases in the order s < p < d
• The maximum number of electrons in each
subshell is: s = 2 e, p = 6 e, d = 10 e

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Subshells

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 Atomic orbitals
• Each subshell contains 1 or more atomic
orbitals.

• The number of orbitals in each subshell

must be:
s – ? orbital
p – ? orbitals
d – ? orbitals
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 Shapes of the orbitals
• Each orbital has a three-dimensional shape.
• Within this shape, there is a high probability of finding
the electrons in the orbital.

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Shapes of the orbitals

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d orbitals
 Filling the shells and orbitals
• The most stable electronic configuration of an
atom is the one that has the lowest amount of
energy
• The subshell with the lowest energy, the 1s, is
filled first, followed by subshells with higher in
energy.

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Filling the shells and orbitals
The diagonal rule to fill
orbitals with electrons

Remember 4s < 3d so
4s is filled before 3d
Same for 5s and 4d,4f etc.

Exceptions to the rule:

Cu (Z = 29) and Cr (Z = 24)

Cu = 4s13d10 instead of 4s23d 9
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Cr = 4s 3d instead of 4s 3d 4
1 5 2
 Electronic configuration
1s 2s 2p

1 electron
in each p
orbital
N: 1s2 2s2 2p3

• Each box represents an atomic orbital.

• An electron is represented by an arrow.
• When there are 2 electrons in an orbital, the
‘spins’ (direction) of the electrons are opposite.

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Electronic configuration

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Electronic configuration

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Electronic configuration

Q1: Use 1s2 notation to give the electronic

configurations of the atoms with the following
atomic numbers:
a 16
b 29
c 20

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 Vocabulary
• Atomic number
• Atomic mass
• Isotope
• Electronic configuration
• Quantum shell
• Subshell
• Valence shell
• Atomic orbitals
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• Shape of orbitals