Not Indivisible (The Structure of the Atom) Rutherford’s model showed that the electrons and nucleus have
Rutherford’s model showed that the electrons and nucleus have opposite charges
which according to the laws of physics, will attract each other. Thus, Rutherford's model
Greek philosophers Democritus and Leucippus developed the idea that all matter is would have electrons collapsing into the nucleus, making the atom unstable. Niels Bohr
composed of tiny, indivisible particles called atoms. However, their atomic theory was based solved this problem by proposing that the electrons orbit around the nucleus in set
only on assumptions. It was not until the early 1800s that experiments were performed to energy levels. An electron absorbs energy if it moves from lower to higher energy level, and
develop models for the structure of the atom. it emits energy if it returns to the lower energy level.
In 1803, John Dalton, a British scientist, did experiments on mixtures of gases. He
studied how the properties of individual gases affect the properties of the mixtures of these Quantum Mechanical Model
gases. He developed the hypothesis that the sizes of the particles making up different gases
must be different. After several experiments, he concluded that all matter is composed of The quantum mechanical model of the atom states that a nucleus is surrounded by a
spherical atoms, which cannot be broken down into smaller pieces. He added that all atoms cloud of electrons called orbitals. It explains that it is impossible to determine the exact
of one element are identical to each other but different from the atoms of another element. location of the electron at a given time, but one can find its probable location. It incorporates
the concept of Bohr’s model where the electrons move in one orbital to another by absorbing
or emitting energy.
Discovery of the Subatomic Particles :
The Electrons in the Plum Pudding Model
In 1897, Joseph John Thomson, a British physicist, proposed an atomic model
known as the plum pudding model. His model consisted of negatively charged particles
(plum) spread evenly throughout the positively charged material (pudding). The small, Physicist Ernest Rutherford envisioned the atom as like a miniature solar system, with
negatively charged particles are called electrons. electrons orbiting around a massive nucleus, and as mostly empty space, with the nucleus
occupying only a very small part of the atom.
The Protons in the Planetary Model
In the early 1900s, Ernest Rutherford, a New Zealand-born physicist, established
the planetary model which described the atom as small, dense, and has a positively
charged core called the nucleus. Inside the nucleus are positively charged particles called
the protons. The nucleus is surrounded by negatively charged particles or electrons. The
electrostatic attraction between electrons and nucleus mimics the gravitational force of
attraction between planets and the sun.
The Neutrons
In 1923, James Chadwick proved the existence of the neutron, which is also
situated in the nucleus together with the proton. It has the same mass as the proton but
unlike the latter, it has no electric charge.
Bohr’s Atomic Model
Historical development of the model of atomic theory with contributions from Dalton to
Chadwick.
Corpuscles to Chemical Atomic Theory (The Development of Atomic Theory) Dalton’s Chemical Atomic Theory:
Robert Boyle’s ideas: • that elements were made of the same atoms and had properties unique to the
• Corpuscles were “certain primitive and simple, or perfectly unmingled bodies” that element, while chemical compounds were made of different combined or compounded
were indivisible and whole. This went against the Aristotelian thinking that objects are made atoms, and exhibited different sets of properties.
of infinitely divisible elements. It was more like the idea of Democritus and Leucippus. • that one could compute the weights of elements (and their atoms) by looking at
• He recognized elements as the simplest substances that constitute mixtures, and comparable amounts of the compounds they formed.
that elements are those that cannot be decomposed into other substances via chemical • that one could compute atomic weights compared to a reference. Dalton set the
reactions. atomic weight of hydrogen to 1 as this reference. For this reason, the unit for atomic weight
He emphasized the need to observe and test the presence of corpuscles in was called the dalton for some time (it is now called the AMU or atomic mass unit).
alchemical experiments.
Other scientists who made headway in the concept of the element thanks to Dalton’s
Around 1789, a French man named Antoine Lavoisier used closed vessels and theory.
precise weight measurements in many experiments to achieve the following: • Joseph Gay-Lussac determined that oxygen gas was made of 2 atoms of
• He disproved the principle of phlogiston, where heated metals were thought to oxygen and took the form of a molecule instead of an atom. This offered the possibility that
lose a substance of negative weight. Metals, which gain weight when heated in open air, an element wasn’t necessarily made up of one atom, thus distinguishing the atom from the
actually react with oxygen air, causing it to form a calx (metal oxide). molecule.
• He showed that air is not an element because it could be separated into several • Amedeo Avogadro (the man who conceptualized the mole) determined that
components. By looking at the air from reacting metals and calces, he found different “types” equivalent volumes of two gases under similar conditions contained equal numbers of
of air, one of which caused burning to happen. Lavoisier called it oxygen. particles, and that differences in their masses was a result of a difference in their molecular
• He showed that water is not an element, because it was made of two substances. mass. Thus, he figured out a reliable way of weighing atoms and molecules. This was
Oxygen was found to produce water when burned in the presence of “flammable air” (a part something Dalton lacked in his theory.
of air that would be later called hydrogen). • Later on, Dmitri Mendeleev published a periodic table of elements that ordered
Lavoisier was able to refute Aristotle’s thinking of a universe composed of three or elements according to their atomic weights. He noted patterns in their properties that enabled
four elements. He had proof of Boyle’s concept of a simple substance, now known as the him to predict the discovery of other elements. His table became the basis of the modern
chemical element. A chemical element is a substance that cannot be broken down into Periodic Table.
simpler components. • Many other scientists in the 19th century discovered more elements, thanks to
He defined a compound as a substance composed of these elements. He came up Dalton’s theory, Mendeleev’s table, and the advent of improved analytical and decomposition
with an initial list of 33 elements, and created a systematic way of naming elements and the techniques. From Lavoisier’s 33 elements, the century ended with 82.
compounds they created.
He also wrote the first Chemistry textbook. For this and many other contributions, he Henry Moseley, the Atomic Number, and Synthesis of Elements
became known as the Father of Chemistry.
Henry Moseley who was a researcher at Rutherford’s laboratory. In 1913 Moseley
John Dalton (1766-1844), to further develop the concept of the atom. His Chemical Atomic used Rutherford’s work to advance the understanding of the elements and solve the problem
Theory merged the concepts of the atom and element, and formally established the two in the with Mendeleev’s periodic table.
practice of chemistry. Moseley noticed that shooting electrons at elements caused them to release x-rays at
• Gases, and all chemically inseparable elements, are made of atoms. unique frequencies. He also noticed that the frequency increased by a certain amount when
• The atoms of an element are identical in their masses. the “positive charge” of the chosen element was higher. By arranging the elements according
• Atoms of different elements have different masses. • Atoms combine in small, whole to the square root of the frequency they emitted, he was able to draw out an arrangement of
number ratios. elements that more correctly predicted periodic trends.
Elements’ atomic number, or place in the periodic table, was uniquely tied to
Dalton proposed his atomic theory as the best explanation to three important their “positive charge”, or the number of protons they had. This discovery allowed for a
observations made at the time. These three observations were replicable results of better arrangement of the periodic table, and predicted elements that were not yet
experiments done by different scientists. Since we have enough evidence to establish these discovered. His method of identifying elements by shooting electrons and looking at x-rays
observations as consistently occurring under certain conditions of nature, they are now became a very useful tool in characterizing elements, and is now called x-ray spectroscopy.
known as laws, namely, the 3 Fundamental Laws:
• Antoine Lavoisier’s Law of Conservation of Mass Synthesis of Elements
• Joseph Proust’s Law of Definite Proportions The invention of the device called cyclotron paved the way for transmuting one
• John Dalton’s Law of Multiple Proportions element into another artificially. The high-energy particles that are produced from the
cyclotron upon hitting heavy target nuclei produce heavier nuclei.
The bombarding of Mo with deuterium formed technicium which is the first The separation of charges makes the bond polar. It creates an electric dipole. Dipole
artificially made element. Its name is derived from the Greek word technetos which means refers to “two poles,” meaning there is a positive and a negative pole within a molecule.
artificial. Elements with the higher EN value become the partial negative pole while elements
with the lower EN value become the partial positive pole. This makes the molecule a polar
molecule.
Non-polar covalent bonds occur when electron pairs are shared equally or the
difference in electronegativity between atoms is less than 0.5. Examples of substances
The Transuranic Elements having non-polar covalent bonds are:
Transuranic elements are synthetic elements with atomic numbers higher than that of H2 EN of H = 2.1 ΔEN = 0.0 NON-POLAR MOLECULE; not a dipole
Uranium (Z = 92). Cl2 EN of Cl = 3.0 ΔEN = 0.0 NON-POLAR MOLECULE; not a dipole
F2 EN of F = 4.0 ΔEN = 0.0 NON-POLAR MOLECULE; not a dipole
HI EN of H = 2.1 EN of I = 2.5 ΔEN = 0.4 POLAR MOLECULE; a dipole
Molecular Geometry
The valence shell electron pair repulsion theory or VSEPR theory helps predict the spatial
arrangement of atoms in a polyatomic molecule. The shapes are designed to minimize the
repulsion within a molecule.
The different shapes under the VSEPR theory:
The Superheavy Elements
Superheavy elements are elements with atomic numbers beyond 103. These are
produced by bombarding heavy nuclear targets with accelerated heavy projectiles.
Polarity of Molecules
Electronegativity (EN) - Measure of the relative tendency of an atom to attract electrons to
itself when chemically combined with another atom. The higher the value of electronegativity,
the more it tends to attract electrons toward itself.
Polar covalent bonds occur when electron pairs are unequally shared. The difference in
electronegativity between atoms is significant. Examples of compounds having polar covalent
bonds are:
HCl EN of H = 2.1 EN of Cl = 3.0 ΔEN = 0.9
HF EN of H = 2.1 EN of F = 4.0 ΔEN = 1.9
CH4 Tetrahedral
CCl4 Tetrahedral
Emphasize the difference between bond polarity and molecular polarity. The
presence of polar bonds does not automatically make a molecule polar. The geometry of the
molecule also plays an important role. This can be seen in CO 2 wherein the electronegativity
difference of C and O is 1.0 which makes the bond between them polar. However carbon is
placed in the middle of two oxygen atoms making the molecular structure linear. This equal
distribution of polar bonds make the molecule non-polar.
Guidelines to determine the VSEPR shape of a molecule:
1. Determine the central atom of a molecule. The central atom is the least electronegative
element.
2. Count how many valence electrons the central atom has.
3. Count how many valence electrons the side atoms have.
4. Create the appropriate Lewis structure of the molecule.
5. Using the Lewis structure as a guide, determine the appropriate VSEPR shape for the
molecule. Molecules are polar or non-polar based on the type of covalent bond and its
6. Note how many electrons are shared and unshared. This will help determine the molecular geometry.
appropriate VSEPR shape. The most practical manifestations of polarity is solubility and miscibility. Solubility
refers to the ability of a solute to dissolve in a certain amount of solvent. Miscibility is the
Polar molecule: ability of two liquids to mix in all proportions.
H2O Bent - polar due to two lone pairs
NH3 Trigonal pyramidal - polar due to one lone pair Solubility, Miscibility, and Polarity
NO Linear - polar due to unequal sharing of electrons
Give the general rule that “like dissolves like” or “like mixes with like.” This refers to
substances being able to mix due to their same polarity.
In the experiment, water and vinegar mixed because they are both polar substances
while gasoline and oil are non-polar substances. Oil and water, oil and vinegar, gasoline and
water, and vinegar and gasoline do not mix because their polarities are different.
Concept of polarity in biological examples:
Proteins are macromolecules having polar and non-polar parts that are essential to
life. Protein chains can be so long that they must bend and form a particular shape. The
shape is affected by attraction and repulsion among polar and non-polar groups. Proteins that
have an irregular shape are not able to perform biological functions well. One particular
Note that dots refer to unshared electrons in the Lewis structure above and a dash refers to
example is a hereditary disease called sickle cell anemia wherein the red blood cell acquires
bonding between two electrons. Point out the effects of lone pairs in the shape and polarity of
the shape of a sickle or crescent moon instead of a normal circular shape. This irregularity in
a molecule.
shape lessens the ability of the red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout the body.
Phospholipids on the other hand are biological macromolecules that normally form
as cell membrane. Phospholipids have a water-loving (polar) and water-fearing (non-polar)
part. This macromolecule orients itself in such a way that the polar part is oriented towards
the watery environment (outwards) while the non-polar orients itself away from the watery
environment (inwards). In this way, cells are able to perform their functions.
Non-polar molecule
CO2 Linear
