Introduction to Atoms: Nucleus, Protons, Neutrons, Atomic Numbers, Symbols, etc.

The parts of an atom are the nucleus and shell. A nucleus of an atom is located in the middle of an atom. In the middle of an atom, there are two different parts: protons and neutrons. Protons have a positive charge and a neutron has no electrical charge. We can remember this by using the suffix pro in protons, which means something good. For example, if you have more money, then usually that’s something positive. With this, we can remember that protons have a positive electrical charge. To remember a charge of a neutron, we can remember the suffix -neut, which means none. Neutral for example means something with no marks. With this, we can remember a neutron as a particle with a neutral, or no positive charge.

The shell of an atom is basically the shape. In a diagram, the shell of an atom will be shown as an unfilled circle or sphere. Electrons lie on the shell of the atom and have a negative charge. We can remember this, as there must be a positive, neutral, and negatively charged particle. Since the protons fill the spot as the particle with a positive charge and a neutron fills the spot as a neutrally charged particle, that leaves us with the electron. The electron is the negatively charged particle. This is how you can remember that an electron is negatively charged.

You may also hear the word “atomic orbits.” An atomic orbit is simply the motion in which the electrons orbit around the nucleus. They are called orbits because the nucleus acts like a Sun and the electrons orbit around like a planet. Electrons actually move so fast, that scientists cannot tell where they actually are. However, they infer that electrons are almost always among the atomic orbits.

Extra Information:

The Periodic Table is listed as hydrogen as 1, helium and 2, and lithium as 3. This is because hydrogen has one proton, helium has 2 protons, and so on. So, the atomic number of the periodic table is listed in order by the numberof protons in the element.

The atomic mass of protons and neutrons are about the same, measuring about 1.67 x 10^-12 (0.00000000000167 grams.) Electrons approximately measure 9.109 x 10^-31.

Elements may also have different types of form. For example, they can have the same number of protons, but different amounts of neutrons and atomic mass (but not in chemical reactions.) These are called isotopes. A famous isotope of carbon is carbon-12, which is the most popular type of carbon. Almost 99 percent of the carbon in the world is carbon-12. This isotope gets its name from its atomic mass, exactly 12 amu.

Despite atomic mass being measured in grams, it is also measured in amus. An amu, also known as daltons, D, is an atomic mass unit. The atomic mass of an atom in an element is measured by this. The atomic mass of the element is determined by the average weight of all the isotypes of the element.