Atomic Structure and Interatomic Bonding
Atomic Structure and Interatomic Bonding
1 Introduction
Some of the important properties of solid materials
depend on geometrical atomic arrangements, and also
the interactions that exist among constituent atoms or
molecules. This chapter will consider several
fundamental and important concepts namely, atomic
structure, electron configurations in atoms and the
periodic table, and the various types of primary and
secondary interatomic bonds that hold together the
atoms comprising a solid.
ATOMIC STRUCTURE
2.2 Fundamental Concepts
Atomic number, Z
number of protons in the nucleus of each element
for an electrically neutral or complete atom, atomic
number also equals the number of electrons
Atomic mass, A
sum of the masses of protons and neutrons within the
nucleus of an atom
Isotopes
variants of a particular chemical element such that, while all isotopes of a given
element have the same number of protons in each atom, they differ in neutron
number.
Atomic weight
weighted average of the atomic masses of the atoms naturally occuring
isotopes
Atomic mass unit, amu
-unit for atomic weight
-1 amu is defined as 1/12 of the atomic mass of the most common isotope of
carbon, carbon 12 (A=12.0000)
1 amu
= 1g
Atom (or molecule)
mol
Mole
-equal to 6.023 x 1023 (Avogadros number) atoms or molecules in one mole of a
substance
*Atomic Models
Bohr atomic model
an early attempt to describe electrons in atoms, in terms of
both position (electron orbitals) and energy (quantized
energy levels)
electrons are assumed to revolve around the atomic
nucleus in certain orbitals or energy levels
energy of the electrons are quantized (electrons are
permitted to have only specific values of energy). An
electron may change energy, but in doing so it must make a
quantum jump either to an allowed higher energy (with
absorption of energy) or to a lower energy (with emission
of energy)
Wave-mechanical model
electrons are considered to exhibit both wavelike and
particle-like characteristics
*Quantum Numbers
parameters that characterize electrons in an atom
*Electron Configuration
The electron configuration of an atom represents the
Bonding energy, Eo
represents the energy that would be required for
infinite separation of atoms
Covalent Bonding
stable electron configurations are assumed by the
sharing of electrons between adjacent atoms. Two
atoms that are covalently bonded will each contribute
at least one electron to the bond and the shared
electron may be considered to belong to both atoms
Example of covalently bonded molecules are H2, Cl2,
F2, CH4, H2O, HNO3, HF. Also are solids: diamon,
silicon, germanium and solid compounds gallium
arsenide (GaAs), indium antimonide (InSb), silicon
carbide (SiC)
Metallic Bonding
found in metals and their alloys
Valence electron are not bound to any particular atom
in the solid and or more or less free to drift thru out
the entire metal. They may be thought of as belonging
to the metal as a whole, or forming a sea of electrons or
an electron cloud. The remaining nonvalence
electrons and atomic nuclei form what are called ion
cores, which possess a net positive charge equal in
magnitude to the total valence electron charge per
atom
2.8 Molecules
Many of the common molecules are composed of