Inside the Atom

Inside the Atom

1. The nucleus is made of protons and neutrons

   • Protons and neautrons are known as nucleons
   • Electrons orbit the core
   • Atoms are mostly empty space

2. Charges and mass

   • Diagram

3. Proton number

   • Also known as the atomic number (the bottom number)

4. Nucleon number

   • Mass number which is the protons and neutrons added together (top number)

5. Specific charge

   • =charge/ mass
   • Coulombs per kilogram (CKg^-1)

6. Isotopes

   • Atoms with the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons
   • Changing the amount of neutrons does not effect the chemical properties but can effect the stability of the nucleaus
   • Greater number of neutrons to protons the more unstable it is
   • Unstable nuclei may be radioactive so decay in order to become more stable

7. Key terms

   • Proton- subatomic particle with a charge of +1
   • Neutron- subatomic particle with a charge of 0
   • Electron- subatomic particle with a charge of -1
   • Proton number- atomic number
   • Atomic number- proton number
   • Nucleon number- atomic mass number, the number of protons and neutrons
   • Mass number- the number of protons and neutrons
   • Nuclide notation- symbol, mass number and atomic number diagram
   • Specific Charge- the ratio of charge to its mass
   • Isotope- an atom with the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons
   • Isotopic data- the relative amount of different isotopes of an element