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YOUR NOTES
IB Chemistry SL 

The Nuclear Atom

CONTENTS
Nuclear Model of the Atom
Subatomic Particles
Isotopes

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Nuclear Model of the Atom YOUR NOTES


The Nuclear Atom
What are subatomic particles?
The protons, neutrons and electrons that an atom is made up of are called subatomic
particles
These subatomic particles are so small that it is not practical to measure their masses and
charges using conventional units (such as grams or coulombs)
Instead, their masses and charges are compared to each other, and so are called ‘relative
atomic masses’ and ‘relative atomic charges’
These are not actual charges and masses, but rather charges and masses of particles
relative to each other
Protons and neutrons have a very similar mass, so each is assigned a relative mass of 1
Electrons are 1836 times smaller than a proton and neutron, and so their mass can be
considered negligible
The relative mass and charge of the subatomic particles are:

Relative Mass & Charge of Subatomic Particles Table

Subatomic particle Relative charge Relative mass

Proton +1 1
Neutron 0 1
Electron –1 negligible

 Exam Tip
The charge of a single electron is -1.602189 x 10-19 coulombs, whereas the charge
of a proton is +1.602189 x 10-19 coulombs.
However, relative to each other, their charges are -1 and +1 respectively.
This information can also been found in the IB Data Booklet

Where are the subatomic particles located?

Atoms contain a positively charged, dense nucleus
The nucleus is positively charged due to the protons
The nucleus is dense because mass of an atom is concentrated in the nucleus, which
contains the heaviest subatomic particles
The subatomic particles in the nucleus can generally be called nucleons, although they
are specifically the neutrons and protons
Negatively charged electrons occupy the space outside the nucleus
They can be described as orbiting the nucleus where they create a 'cloud' of negative
charge

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The electrostatic attraction between the positive nucleus and negatively charged YOUR NOTES
electrons orbiting around it is what holds an atom together 
Atomic Structure Diagram

The mass of the atom is concentrated in the positively charged nucleus which is attracted to
the negatively charged electrons orbiting around it

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Subatomic Particles YOUR NOTES


Subatomic Particles
The atomic number (or proton number) is the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom
and has the symbol Z
The atomic number is also equal to the number of electrons that are present in a
neutral atom of an element
E.g. the atomic number of lithium is 3
This means that a neutral lithium atom has 3 protons and, therefore, also has 3
electrons

The chemical symbol of a general element

The mass (nucleon) and atomic (proton) number are given for each element in the Periodic
Table
The mass number (or nucleon number) is the total number of protons + neutrons in the
nucleus of an atom, and has the symbol A
Protons and neutrons are also called nucleons, because they are found in the nucleus
The number of neutrons can be calculated by:
Number of neutrons = mass number - atomic number

How to work out protons, neutrons and electrons

An atom is neutral and has no overall charge
Ions on the other hand have either gained or lost electrons causing them to become
charged
The number of subatomic particles in atoms and ions can be determined given their:
Atomic (proton) number
Mass (nucleon) number
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Charge YOUR NOTES

Protons 
The atomic number of an atom and ion determines which element it is
Therefore, all atoms and ions of the same element have the same number of protons
(atomic number) in the nucleus
E.g. lithium has an atomic number of 3 (three protons) whereas beryllium has atomic
number of 4 (4 protons)
The number of protons equals the atomic (proton) number
The number of protons of an unknown element can be calculated by using its mass number
and number of neutrons:
Mass number = number of protons + number of neutrons
Number of protons = mass number - number of neutrons

 Worked Example
Determine the number of protons of the following ions and atoms:
1. Mg2+ ion
2. Carbon atom
3. An unknown atom of element X with mass number 63 and 34 neutrons

Answer 1:
The atomic number of a magnesium atom is 12
This means that the number of protons in the nucleus of a magnesium atom is
12
Therefore, the number of protons in a Mg2+ ion is also 12
Remember: The number of protons does not change when an ion is
formed
Answer 2:
The atomic number of a carbon atom is 6
This means that a carbon atom has 6 protons in its nucleus
Answer 3:
Use the formula to calculate the number of protons
Number of protons = mass number - number of neutrons
Number of protons = 63 - 34
Number of protons = 29
Therefore, element X is copper

Electrons

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An atom is neutral and therefore has the same number of protons and electrons YOUR NOTES
Ions have a different number of electrons to the number of protons, depending on their 
charge
A positively charged ion has lost electrons and, therefore, has fewer electrons than
protons
A negatively charged ion has gained electrons and, therefore, has more electrons than
protons

 Worked Example
Determine the number of protons of the following ions and atoms:
1. Mg2+ ion
2. Carbon atom
3. An unknown atom of element X with mass number 63 and 34 neutrons
Answer 1:
The atomic number of a magnesium atom is 12
This means that the number of protons in the nucleus of a magnesium atom is
12
However, the 2+ charge in Mg2+ ion indicates that it has lost two electrons
Therefore, an Mg2+ ion only has 10 electrons
Answer 2:
The atomic number of a carbon atom is 6
This means that a carbon atom has 6 protons in its nucleus
Since there is no overall charge on a neutral carbon atom, there must be 6
negative electrons to balance the charge of the 6 positive protons
Answer 3:
Use the formula to calculate the number of protons
Number of protons = mass number - number of neutrons
Number of protons = 63 - 34
Number of protons = 29
Since element X is neutral, there must be 29 negative electrons to balance the
charge of 29 positive protons

Neutrons
The mass and atomic numbers can be used to find the number of neutrons in ions and
atoms:
Number of neutrons = mass number (A) - number of protons (Z)

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YOUR NOTES
 Worked Example

Determine the number of protons of the following ions and atoms:
1. Mg2+ ion
2. Carbon atom
3. An unknown atom of element X with mass number 63 and 34 neutrons
Answer 1:
The atomic number of a magnesium atom is 12 and its mass number is 24
Number of neutrons = mass number (A) - number of protons (Z)
Number of neutrons = 24 - 12
Number of neutrons = 12
The Mg2+ ion has 12 neutrons in its nucleus
Answer 2:
The atomic number of a carbon atom is 6 and its mass number is 12
Number of neutrons = mass number (A) - number of protons (Z)
Number of neutrons = 12 - 6
Number of neutrons = 6
The carbon atom has 6 neutrons in its nucleus
Answer 3:
The atomic number of an element X atom is 29 and its mass number is 63
Number of neutrons = mass number (A) - number of protons (Z)
Number of neutrons = 63 - 29
Number of neutrons = 34
The neutral atom of element X has 34 neutrons in its nucleus

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Isotopes YOUR NOTES


Isotopes
What are isotopes?
Isotopes are different atoms of the same element that contain the same number of
protons and electrons but a different number of neutrons
These are atoms of the same elements but with different mass numbers
The way to represent an isotope is to write the chemical symbol (or the word) followed by a
dash and then the mass number
E.g. carbon-12 and carbon-14 are isotopes of carbon containing 6 and 8 neutrons
respectively
These isotopes could also be written as 12C or C-12, and 14C or C-14 respectively

Isotopes of hydrogen

Using the chemical symbols of hydrogen to determine the number of subatomic particles in each isotope

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Calculating Relative Atomic Mass YOUR NOTES

What is relative atomic mass? 
The relative atomic mass (Ar) of an element is the ratio of the average mass of the atoms
of an element to the unified atomic mass unit
The definition of relative atomic mass is:
'the average mass of one atom of an element compared to one twelfth of the mass of an
atom of carbon-12'

How to calculate relative atomic mass

The mass of an element is given as relative atomic mass (Ar) by using the average mass of
all of the isotopes
The relative atomic mass of an element can be calculated by using the percentage
abundance values
The percentage abundance of an isotope is either given or can be read off the mass
spectrum
For example, if you have two isotopes A and B:
Find the mass of 100 atoms by multiplying the percentage abundance by the mass of
each isotope:
total mass of 100 atoms = (% abundanceA x massA) + (% abundanceB x massB)
Then divide by 100, to find the average / relative atomic mass:
total mass of 100 atoms
relative atomic mass =
100

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YOUR NOTES
 Worked Example

A sample of oxygen contains the following isotopes:
Percentage
Isotope
abundance
16O 99.76
17O 0.04
18O 0.20

What is the relative atomic mass of oxygen to 2 dp?

A 16.00
B 17.18
C 16.09
D 17.00

Answer:
The correct answer is A
Total mass of 100 atoms = (99.76 x 16) + ( 0.04 x 17) + (0.20 x 18) = 1600.44
1600 . 44
Mass of 1 atom = = 16.0044
100
So, the relative atomic mass, rounded to 2 decimal places, is 16.00

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