ATOMIC STRUCTURE
Atoms are the basic building blocks of matter. Every atom consists of a nucleus and
some particles called electrons that whizz non-stop around the nucleus in the shells.
Some other particles, the protons and neutrons are found inside the nucleus and are
called nucleons.
STRUCTURE OF AN ATOM
The three basic particles; protons, neutrons and electrons found in an atom have
different properties as shown in table below.
Particle Relative mass Relative charge Position
Proton 1 +1 (positive) Nucleus
Neutron 1 0 (neutral) Nucleus
Electron −1 (negative) Shells / orbitals
Note: The table above must be mastered because it is often tested in the BGCSE
examinations. Common error is that candidates tend to confuse relative masses with
relative charges.
A table of elements labelled The Periodic Table of the Elements is normally provided
during chemistry tests. On the bottom left of the Periodic Table is a key (shown below)
which acts as a guide to use the table.
The numbers of protons, neutrons and electrons in an atom can be determined from its
proton number (atomic number) and the nucleon number (mass number).
• The proton (atomic) number is defined as the number of protons in an
atom.
• The nucleon (mass) number is defined as the total number of protons and
neutrons in an atom.
An atom is neutral, it has no overall charge. This is because the number of positive (+)
protons in the nucleus must be equal to the number of (−) electrons in the shells.
Look at the symbol of an element Carbon (C) as shown in the periodic table.
The protons and neutrons of an atom are just embedded and clustered inside the nucleus
and this is the heavy part of an atom.
The electrons are always moving around the nucleus at different levels from it. The
different energy levels for the electrons are called electron shells. Each shell can only
hold a limited number of electrons.
ELECTRON ARRANGEMENT
The way in which electrons are arranged in an atom among the various shells is called
electron configuration.
Each energy level or shell can accommodate a definite number of electrons. For the
first 20 elements in the Periodic Table;
• The first shell can hold 2 electrons
• The second shell can hold 8 electrons
• The third shell can accommodate 8 electrons
Each shell or energy level must be completely filled up with electrons before the next
level is filled. Below are some examples of diagrams showing electron configuration of
four elements extracted from the Periodic Table.
Electrons are normally shown in the diagrams as cross (×) or dots (●)
The table below shows the electron arrangement of atoms of some of the elements from
the Periodic Table.
Element Proton Electron Atomic Structure
number configuration
1
Hydrogen H 1 1
1
16
Oxygen O 8 2,6
8
20
Neon Ne 10 2,8
10
27
Aluminum Al 13 2,8,3
13
40 Ar
Argon 18 18 2,8,8
From the table above, electron arrangement of Neon and Argon are 2,8 and 2,8,8
respectfully. In these atoms, the valence/outer shells are full. The atoms are said to be
stable because of the fully filled outermost shells.
Except for helium that has 2 outermost electrons, all other group 8 elements (noble
gases) have their outermost shells filled with 8 electrons. A shell with 8 electrons is
called an octet structure.
When atoms take part in chemical reactions, they tend to combine in ways to attain this
noble gas electron configuration to be stable.
ISOTOPES
• Isotopes of an element are atoms of the same element that have different nucleon
(mass) numbers or different number of neutrons.
• Isotopes of the same element have similar chemical properties but different
physical properties.
The table below shows some isotopes of Hydrogen, Carbon, and Chlorine.
Element Name of isotope Proton Nucleon Number of Number
number number neutrons of
electrons
Protium 1 1 0 1
Hydrogen Deuterium 1 2 1 1
Tritium 1 3 2 1
Carbon – 12 6 12 6 6
Carbon Carbon – 13 6 13 7 6
Carbon – 14 6 14 8 6
Chlorine – 35 17 35 18 17
Chlorine Chlorine – 35 17 37 20 17
Note
• Isotopes have the same number of protons (atomic) number
• The relative atomic mass of each element is an average mass of all isotopes in
existence according to their proportion in nature. As long as there appears a decimal
number on the relative atomic mass of an element in the Periodic Table, that element
must be made up of isotopes.
