Module #3 Study Guide and Videos

ELEMENTS

Print this study guide. Use the hard copy for taking notes and doing practice problems while you watch the accompanying
videos. These are the links for the accompanying videos. Click on the link and then press “play”. You can expand the
screen with the “double arrows” in the bottom right hand corner. You can pause and rewind using the bar at the bottom of
the screen. Take notes on your hard copy while you watch the videos.

Module 3; Subatomic Particles: https://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cYjZDnmZ76

Module 3; Atoms and the Periodic Table: https://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cYjTVAmu4Y

Module 3; Electron Configuration: https://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cYjThhmUXK

There is a periodic table on the last page of this study guide. Print it and keep it in front of you.
You will need it to complete this study guide. Use the objective check list below to make sure
you are ready for the exam on atoms.

Objectives Supporting Chem 101

sections in practice problems.
Be able to: textbook

 Compare and contrast the subatomic particles. Module 3 – Subatomic

4.2
Particles
(10 problems)

 Compare and contrast metallic and non-metallic elements. 4.3

 Use the periodic table to make inferences about an element’s:

 Atomic number
 Atomic mass
 # of protons 4.3, 4.4, 4.7
Module 3 – Elements
 Most abundant isotope
and the Periodic Table
 Relative size
(28 problems)
 Relative electronegativity

 Use the periodic table to make inferences about an element’s

electrons:
 Number of electrons in a neutral atom 4.3, 4.4, 4.7
 Number of valence electrons
 Electronic configuration

 Draw Lewis Dot structures of elements Module 3 – Lewis Dot

5.6
Structures
(5 problems)

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 ELEMENTS ARE: METALS OR NONMETALS

METALS NONMETALS

location on periodic table

examples

melting point/ state

appearance

ability to conduct heat

ability to conduct electricity

malleability

density

WHAT IS AN ATOM?
Thought experiment: Consider a chunk of pure gold, Au. Break off a small piece. Break
off a smaller piece. Still smaller. Smaller yet. When you can’t break it down any smaller,
what do you have?

What do you have if you could manage to break it down further?

In your own words, define atom:

After you’ve written down your own definition, listen to the definition on the video. Does
this definition make sense to you?

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 What does an atom “look” like?

An atom has two regions: _________________ & _________________

Complete the following table regarding the two regions of an atom:

region location relative relative relative
mass volume density

NUCLEUS

ELECTRON
CLOUD

An atom’s size (volume) is determined by the electron cloud. If you used a whole
stadium to represent an atom, the nucleus would be a pea floating in the center of the
stadium. The rest of the stadium would be the space occupied by the electrons zipping
around the pea.

Your textbook has a picture of an atom on page 80, Figure 4.6. It is not drawn to scale.
And it does not accurately show the space in which the electrons would be zipping
around. It does, however, help you to visualize the two regions of the atom. Sketch the
picture (or a similar one) here:

What are the particles that make up an atom?

Complete the following table regarding these three subatomic particles:

subatomic particle charge location relative mass

PROTON

ELECTRON

NEUTRON

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 How many protons and electrons are in a given atom?
Use the atomic number on the periodic table.

Use the key on your periodic table to find atomic number. Describe where you find
atomic number:

The atomic number is equivalent to the number of protons in an atom.

How many protons in carbon? ________
How many protons in gold? ________
What element has 16 protons? _________
What element has 26 protons? _________

Each proton has a positive charge. Each electron has a negative charge.
What would you say about the number of protons and electrons in an atom that is
neutral?

How many electrons in a neutral chlorine atom? Explain how you got your
answer.

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What is the mass of an individual atom?

Determine mass number.
Mass number = number of protons + number of neutrons
Elemental symbol: shows both the atomic number (on the bottom) and the mass number (on the top).

Complete the table for the following neutral elements:

Phosphorus Oxygen Boron Carbon

15
# of protons
16 8
# of neutrons

# of electrons
11
Mass Number
13
Elemental C
symbol

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What is the atomic mass of an element?

Use the atomic mass on the periodic table

Where do you find atomic mass on the periodic table?

Write down the atomic mass of the following elements:

Carbon: _______
Sodium: ______
Magnesium: ______

Let’s consider carbon. Every carbon atom has __________ protons. But the number of
neutrons varies from atom to atom . One carbon atom may have 6 neutrons. One may
have 7 neutrons. Identify the mass number for these two different isotopes of carbon:
6 protons + 6 neutrons: atomic mass number = ____________
6 protons + 7 neutrons: atomic mass number = ____________
The atomic mass in the periodic table is an average of an element. The atomic mass of
carbon is 12.01. So which isotope is more abundant – 12C or 13C? _________

Identify the number of protons and neutrons in the two most common isotopes of
sodium. Which isotope is most abundant.

Identify the number of protons and neutrons in the two most common isotopes of
magnesium. Which isotope is most abundant.

Note: Numbers need units in chemistry! Usually mass is measured in grams. So the mass
of a small pill may be 1 gram. Atoms are very small, though, so they are not measured in
grams. The units for atomic mass and atomic mass numbers are amu’s (atomic mass
units) Go through your last two pages of notes and add “amu” after each atomic mass or
atomic mass number that you wrote down. Make sure you use this unit in future work.

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Potential Confusion – Get these straightened out.

Atomic Number

Mass Number

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Atomic Mass
How many valence electrons does an element have?
Look at its group number on the periodic table.

Electrons zip around the nucleus in the electron cloud. The electrons furthest away from
the nucleus tend to be the highest energy electrons. These are the valence electrons.
They are the ones that will be involved in the bonding of an element to other elements. So
they are key to a element’s chemical properties. The group number tells you how many
valence electrons an element has. Calcium, for example, has two valence electrons.

Complete the table;

Element Total number of electrons Number of valence
in a neutral atom electrons in an atom
of that element of that element
Calcium 20 2
Oxygen
Chlorine

Lewis Dot Structures

Your instructor will show you the Lewis dot structures (or electron dot structures) for
neon, calcium, oxygen and chlorine:

Draw the Lewis dot structures for magnesium, sulfur and carbon:

Define Lewis dot structures in your own words:

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 Other trends in the periodic table

Atomic size

Look at figure below. Each “ball” in the picture represents a single atom. (Atoms do
indeed have roughly the shape of a ball according to experimental data). The size of each
ball represents the relative size of a single atom of that element according to experimental
data. (The numbers below each ball is the radius in picometers of one atom of that
element.)

What happens to the atomic size of elements as you go across a period (row)?

Why?

What happens to the atomic size of elements as you go down a group (column)?

Why?

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Electronegativity

Electronegativity is a measure of the relative attraction that an atom has for the shared
electrons in a bond. The higher the electronegativity of an element, the greater the
electron-attracting ability of that element. Look at the electronegativity values below.

What happens to electronegativity as you go across a period (row)?

What happens to electronegativity as you go down a group (column)?

What element(s) has the highest electronegativity? The lowest?

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Practice Problems
1. Find the square on the Periodic Table for oxygen (O) atom.

a. Use information from the square to get the number of protons and the number of electrons and
the number of valence electrons in a oxygen atom that does not have a charge.

b. What is the average relative mass of an oxygen atom? Describe the most common isotope of
oxygen (number of protons and number of neutrons).

c. Describe what an oxygen atom (the most common isotope) would “look” like.

d. Is oxygen a metal, a nonmetal or a metalloid?

e. Use your answer to part d to help you answer the questions below:

 How well does oxygen conduct heat?

 How well does oxygen conduct electricity?

f. How many valence electrons does each neutral oxygen atom have? Draw the Lewis dot
structure.

g. Which other element behaves most like oxygen?

2. Find the square on the Periodic Table for aluminum (Al).

a. Use information from the square to get the number of protons and the number of electrons and
the number of valence electrons in a aluminum atom that does not have a charge.

b. What is the average relative mass of an aluminum atom? Describe the most common isotope
of aluminum (number of protons and number of neutrons).

c. Describe what an aluminum atom (the most common isotope) would “look” like.

d. Is aluminum a metal, a nonmetal or a metalloid?

e. Use your answer to part d to help you answer the questions below:

 How well does aluminum conduct heat?

 How well does aluminum conduct electricity?

f. How many valence electrons does each neutral aluminum atom have? Draw the Lewis dot
structure.

g. Which other element behaves most like aluminum?

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 3. Would you expect oxygen or aluminum to have a greater atomic radius? Electronegativity?
Electron Configuration

Not all electrons are “equal”. An atom with 36 electrons in it, has 36 different electrons.
You can describe each electron in four ways:

1) What shell is the electron in? (1, 2, 3 or 4?)

2) What subshell is the electron in (s, p, d or f)
3) What orbital is the electron in (in the spherical s orbital? In one of the 3
dumbbell-shaped orbitals? In one of the 5 d orbitals?)
4) What spin is the electron (clockwise or counterclockwise?)

What is an electronic configuration? It provides information regarding the electrons in an

atom – in particular, it tells you what the shell and subshell are for each electron in an
atom.

Consider the Aufbau diagram below. Add a note (as described in the video) regarding the
number of electrons that can be added to each subshell.

Watch the video to learn how to use the Aufbau diagram to write an electronic
configuration for an element. Take notes below:

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 The distinguishing electron and the periodic table
The distinguishing electron is the last electron added to the element’s electron
configuration when the configuration is written according to the Aufbau
principle. This last electron added is the one that causes an element’s electron
configuration to differ from that of the element immediately preceding it in the
periodic table, hence the term distinguishing electron.

Look at the periodic table on page 101. For all the elements in the “s area”, the
distinguishing electron is located in an s subshell. For all the elements in the “p
area”, the distinguishing electron is located in a p subshell.

Based simply on location in the periodic table, what is the distinguishing

electron’s subshell for:
Sodium_________
Beryllium ___________
Nickel ___________
Neon _________
Silicon ___________

Now write the complete electronic configuration for the above elements
using the Aufbau diagram on page 197.
.
Sodium_____________________________________________

Beryllium ___________________________________________

Nickel ______________________________________________

Neon _______________________________________________

Silicon ______________________________________________

Are your answers for the distinguishing electron and the complete
electronic configuration consistent?

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