Teaching You Chemistry 1

Teaching You Chemistry

I am currently studying Chemistry at A-Levels and I wish to share what I learn with you, after all it is said that teaching other people is a good way of revising, so it benefits both me and you. I will start with the basics and work up from there.

The Atom

Atoms are what all elements and compounds are made out of, they are very small and cannot be seen with the naked eye. Atoms are made up of 3 types of particles which are the protons, neutrons and electrons, the proton and neutron make the nucleus of an atom.

Electrons:

Electrons have a -1 (negative) charge and the whizz around the nucleus in orbitals (circles), these orbitals make if for most of the volume of the atom.

Nucleus:

The majority of the mass of the atom is concentrated in the nucleus. The diameter of the nucleus rather small compared to the whole atom, inside the nucleus is where you can find protons and neutrons. 

Protons have a relative mass of 1 and a relative charge of +1

Neutrons have a relative mass of 1 and a relative charge of 0 (no charge)

Nuclear Symbols show numbers of Subatomic Particals

The mass number tells you the number of protons and neutrons that are in the nucleus,

The atomic or proton number tells you the number of protons in the nucleus

You can work out he number of neutrons in the nucleus by taking away the mass number from the atomic number (mass number-atomic number= neutron number). In this case 4-2=2, the neutron number is 2.

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