2016-2017 F3 Chemistry Notes Answers (HKDSE Chemistry - A Modern View) by Mr.

Yim
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Chapter 5 Atomic Structure

5.1 What is an element?
An element is a pure substance which cannot be broken down into anything simpler by chemical
methods.

Example 1: Identify whether the following substances are elements or not

Substance to be identified Is it an element? Element(s) it contains
A. Calcium Element Calcium
B. Water Compound Hydrogen, Oxygen
C. Limestone Compound Calcium, Carbon, Oxygen
D. Chalk Compound Calcium, Carbon, Oxygen
E. Aluminium Element Aluminium
F. Iron(II) sulphite Compound Iron, Sulphur
G. Air Mixture ---

5.2 Classification of elements based on physical states

Example 2: Classify elements based on physical states: solids, liquids and gases.
Element State
A. Mercury Liquid
B. Hydrogen Gases
C. Lithium Solid
D. Potassium Solid
E. Bromine Liquid
F. Chlorine Gases
G. Iodine Solid

5.3 Classification of elements into metals and non-metals

A. Metals and non-metals
Suppose we want to decide whether a certain element is a metal or non-metal. Firstly we have to consider
the physical state of the element at room temperature and pressure.

If the element is a gas, it must be a non-metal.

If the element is a liquid, we have to look at its colour.
 Silvery colour indicates the metal mercury.
 Dark red colour indicates the non-metal bromine.

If the element is a solid, we have to test its electrical conductivity.
 Good conductivity indicates a metal.
 Poor conductivity indicates a non-metal.

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Metal are usually shiny when freshly cut. They are silvery white in colour.

Solid non-metals usually have a dull appearance. Unlike metals, they show a variety of colorus.

Example 3: Write down the colours of the following element:

Element Colour
A. Sulphur Yellow
B. Red Phosphorus Red
C. Yellow Phosphorus Yellow
D. Sodium Slivery White
E. Gold Golden Yellow
F. Copper Reddish brown
G. Bromine Red / Brown
H. Carbon Black

Example 4: Fill in the following table:

Property Metals Non-metals
State at room temperature and Solids (except mercury) Gases or solids (except bromine)
pressure
Appearance Shiny Usually dull in appearance

Melting point and boiling point Usually high Usually low

Hardness and strength Hard and strong Brittle

Malleability and ductility Malleable and ductile Not malleable and not ductile

Density Usually high Low

Thermal conductivity and Good conductors of heat and Poor conductors of heat,
electrical conductivity electricity non-conductors of electricity

Example 5: There are exceptions to most of the properties mentioned above:

1. Sodium: it is soft that can be easily cut with a knife, low melting point and floats on water.
2. Carbon: it is a good electrical conductor.
3. Mercury: it is a liquid metal.
4. Potassium: it is soft that can be easily cut with a knife

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B. The in-between elements the semi-metals
Semi-metals (or metalloids) have properties in between those of metals and non-metals. Examples of
semi-metals include boron and silicon (used in making transistors and silicon chips). Most semi-metals have
important uses in industry.

Example 6: Would you classify the following elements/compounds as a metal or non-metal? Why?
A. Phosphorus It is a non-metal, because it is a yellow solid powder and cannot conduct electricity.

B. Platinum It is a metal, because it is a silvery white solid and it can conduct electricity.

C. Calcium It is a metal, because it is a silvery white solid and it can conduct electricity.

Example 7: Decide which is the odd one in each of the following groups of elements. Give reason(s) for your
choice in each case.
A. Iron, copper, mercury, silver
Mercury is the odd one, because mercury is only the liquid metal of the group of elements.
B. Magnesium, sulphur, lead, tin
Sulphur is the odd one, because sulphur is only the non-metal of the group of elements.
C. Iodine, oxygen, nitrogen, argon
Iodine is the odd one, because iodine is the only solid of the group of elements.
D. Phosphorus, bromine, helium, carbon(in the form of graphite)
Carbon is the odd one, because carbon is the only conductor of electricity of the group of elements.

C. Finding whether an element is a metal or non-metal

We can use the set-up shown below. If the element under test is a metals, the bulb will light up. When
non-metals are tested, the bulb will not light up.

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5.4 Chemical symbols for elements

Example 8: Referring to Table 5.2,

A. give the chemical symbols for (i) magnesium, (ii) silver and (iii) sodium.
(i) Mg (ii) Ag (iii) Na
B. give the chemical symbols for the noble gases (i) argon, (ii) helium and (iii) neon.
(i) Ar (ii) He (iii) Ne
C. write the names of (i) F, (ii) Br and (iii) Hg.
(i) Fluorine (ii) Bromine (iii) Mercury

Example 9: Fill in the following table:

Element Symbol Element Symbol
Barium Ba Platinum Pt
Chromium Cr Silver Ag
Cobalt Co Tin Sn
Copper Cu Zinc Zn
Gold Au Argon Ar
Iron Fe Bromine Br
Lead Pb Iodine I
Manganese Mn
Mercury Hg
Nickel Ni
5.5 Atoms
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A. What are atoms?
An atom is the smallest part of an element which has the chemical properties of that element.

B. Size and mass of an atom

Diameters : 1 10-8 cm
Masses : 1 10-23 g

Example 10: How many atoms are there in 1 g?

There are:

=
/

= 1 1023 atoms

Ans.: There are 1 1023 atoms in 1 g.

Example 11: How many atoms are there in 1 cm long if the atoms are line up in a straight line?
There are:

= /

= 1 108 atoms

Ans.: There are 1 108 atoms in 1 cm.

C. Elements and atoms

An element is a substance that is made up of only one kind of atoms. Symbols for atoms are the same as the
chemical symbol for the element.

Example 12: What is the total number of atomic symbols at present? 118 atomic symbols

Example 13: What is the chemical symbol for the element bromine? Br is the symbol

Example 14: What is the atomic symbol for a nitrogen atom? N is the symbol

Example 15: What does Cu stand for? It is stand for copper

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5.6 Structure of atoms
Three fundamental sub-atomic particles are protons, neutrons and electrons.

The centre of an atom is a very tiny and extremely dense region (concentrated with protons and neutrons)
called the nucleus. The electrons move around the nucleus.

A. More about protons, neutrons and electrons

B. Building up different atoms from protons, neutrons and

electrons
Different atoms have different numbers of protons,
neutrons and electrons. For example:

Hydrogen is the simplest of all atoms, it consist of 1

proton and 1 electron (no neutron).

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Helium is the next simplest one, it consist of 2 protons, 2
neutrons and 2 electrons

Number of protons neutrons and electrons of an atom:

C. Atoms are electrically neutral

electrically neutral means no overall charge in an atom

proton = + charge
electron = charge

number of proton = number of electron

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Example 16: All atoms (except one) are made up of protons, electrons and neutrons. Which atom does not

contain any neutron at all?

Protium ( ) does not contain any neutron at all.

Example 17: A certain atom contains 91 protons. How many electrons and neutrons does it have?

It contain 91 electrons (the number of neutrons cannot determine)

Example 18: A certain particle has 8 protons, 8 neutrons and 10 electrons. Is it an atom? Why?

It is not an atom, because the number of protons is not equal to the number of electrons. (It is an ion)

Example 19: Complete the following table:

Sub-atomic
Symbol Relative mass Relative charge Position in atom
particle
Neutron n 1 0 Inside nucleus
Proton p 1 +1 Inside nucleus
Electron e- 1/1840 -1 Space outside nucleus

Example 20: Complete the following table:

Atomic Mass Number of
Atom
number number Proton Neutron Electron
W 6 12 6 6 6
X 15 37 15 22 15
Y 19 39 19 20 19
Z 6 14 6 8 6

Example 21: The above figure shows the nuclei of four atoms P, Q, R and S:

Identify the atom P, Q, R, S.

P: Q: R: S:

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5.7 Atomic number and mass number
A. Atomic number
Atomic number = number of protons in the atom

B. Mass number
Mass number = number of protons + number of neutrons

Full atomic symbol:

Example 22: The table shows the mass numbers and atomic numbers of atoms labelled T to Z.
Mass number Atomic number A. Give the chemical name and full atomic symbol of elements
T 2 1 T, V, W, X, Y and Z.
V 3 1 B. How many protons are there in an atom of Y?
W 3 2 C. How many electrons are there in an atom of W?
X 6 3 D. How many neutrons are there in an atom of Z?
Y 9 4
Z 11 5
A. T: Deutrium V: Tritium W: Helium

X: Lithium Y: Beryllium Z: Boron

B. Y has 4 protons C. W has 2 electrons D. Z has 6 neutrons

5.8 Isotopes
A. What are isotopes?
Isotopes are different atoms of the same
element, with same number of protons (and
electrons) but different numbers of neutrons.
For example: The three isotopes of hydrogen

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Example 23: The table shows the mass numbers and atomic numbers of atoms labelled T to Z.
Mass number Atomic number A. Which atoms are isotopes of the same element?
T 2 1
V 3 1 T and V are the isotopes of the same element.
W 3 2
X 6 3

Example 24: Which of the following atoms are isotopes of the same element? P and Q are isotopes.

White down the full atomic symbols of the isotopes above. and

B. Relative abundance of isotopes

Most elements consist of more than one isotope. One of the isotopes is present in a much higher percentage
than the others in nature:

Example 25: How many isotopes does Iodine have? There are 37 known isotopes of iodine.
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123
Example 26: Which isotope(s) of iodine is / (are) radioactive? I, 124I, 125I, 129I and 131I are radioactive.

5.9 Relative masses of atoms

A. Relative isotopic mass
Atoms are so small and light that ordinary units are unsuitable. For example:

Carbon-12 Scale:
Scientists choose a carbon-12 isotope, which has 6 protons and 6 neutrons, to be the standard atom. Then
they fixed it as exactly 12.000 units (a.m.u.). Masses of all other atoms are compared with this reference
standard to give their relative masses.

The relative masses of a proton and a neutron are both close to 1 and electron is nearly 0. The
relative isotopic mass of an isotope is roughly equal to its mass number.

Example 27: What is the isotopic mass of:

1 2 37 238
Atom 1 H 1 H 1 H 17 Cl U

Isotopic mass 1 2 --- 37 238

B. Relative atomic mass

Relative atomic mass of an element is the weighted average of the relative isotopic masses of its natural
isotopes on the Carbon-12 scale.

Relative atomic mass = a% MA + b% MB + c% MC

Example 28: The relative atomic mass of a certain element X is 39.1. X has 2 isotopes 39X and yX, with
relative abundance of 90% and 10% respectively. Calculate the value of y. What is this number
called?
The value of y:
39 90 % + y 10 % = 39.1
35.1 + 0.1 y = 39.1
0.1 y = 4
y = 40

Ans.: The value of y is 40.

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5.10 Arrangement of electrons
A. Electronic arrangement
Scientists think that electrons in an atom exist in a number of regions ( called electron shells ) surrounding
the central nucleus.

Each electron shell is given a number 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on, starting from the one closest to the nucleus (the
innermost shell). Each shell can hold up to a certain maximum number of electrons. The distribution of
electrons in the various shells is called electronic arrangement.

The maximum number of electrons filling each electron shell is equal to 2n2 in which n is the shell
number as shown below:

Maximum number of electrons

n Electron shell
theoretically filling the shells
1 First nearest to nucleus 2(1)2 = 2
2 Second nearest to nucleus 2(2)2 = 8
3 Third nearest to nucleus 2(3)2 = 18
4 Fourth nearest to nucleus 2(4)2 = 32

Rules for finding electronic arrangement

(1.) The atomic number of the element is first found. This is equal to the number of protons, and hence the
number of electrons present in an atom of the element.
(2.) Electrons go into the shells one by one, starting from the innermost shell. When a certain shell is full
any remaining electrons would go into the next outer shell and so on, until all are placed.

B. Ways of representing electronic arrangement

Electronic arrangement by numbering
The number of electrons in each shell is listed, starting from the first shell (innermost shell); the numbers
are separated by commas.

Example 29: Write down the electronic arrangement by numbering of the following isotopes.
37 35 23
Isotopes 17 Cl 17 Cl 11 Na
e - arrangement 2, 8, 7 2, 8, 7 2, 8, 1

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Example 30: Write down the electronic arrangement by numbering of the following elements.
element Oxygen Helium Potassium
e - arrangement 2, 6 2 2, 8, 8, 1

Electronic arrangement by diagram

Example 31: Write down the electronic arrangement by diagram of the following isotopes.
37 6 23
Isotopes 17 Cl 3 Li 11 Na

e - arrangement

C. Electronic arrangement of the first 20 element

Number No. of e- in e- shells Electronic
Element Symbol
of e- 1st 2nd 3rd 4th arrangement
Hydrogen H 1 1 1
Helium He 2 2 2
Lithium Li 3 2 1 2,1
Beryllium Be 4 2 2 2,2
Boron B 5 2 3 2,3
Carbon C 6 2 4 2,4
Nitrogen N 7 2 5 2,5
Oxygen O 8 2 6 2,6
Fluorine F 9 2 7 2,7
Neon Ne 10 2 8 2,8
Sodium Na 11 2 8 1 2,8,1
Magnesium Mg 12 2 8 2 2,8,2
Aluminium Al 13 2 8 3 2,8,3
Silicon Si 14 2 8 4 2,8,4
Phosphorus P 15 2 8 5 2,8,5
Sulphur S 16 2 8 6 2,8,6
Chlorine Cl 17 2 8 7 2,8,7
Argon Ar 18 2 8 8 2,8,8
Potassium K 19 2 8 8 1 2,8,8,1
Calcium Ca 20 2 8 8 2 2,8,8,2

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5.11 Stability of noble gases related to their electronic arrangements
The exceptional stability of noble gases is related to their electronic arrangements:

All noble gases (except helium) have 8 outermost shell electrons in their atoms. This suggests that a
particle has great stability if it has:
An octet of electrons (i.e. 8 electrons in the outermost shell) or
A duplet of electrons (i.e. 2 electrons in the only one occupied shell).
If an atom attained an octet or a duplet electron structure, it will become stable.

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