ATOMIC STRUCTURE- ELECTRONS, PROTONS AND NEUTRONS

An atom is the basic and the building block of matter that determines the features of any element, be it solid, liquid or gas. Every single element, organism, or non-living object, everything is made up of the accumulation of trillions of atoms bound together. The smaller particles in nature that make the formation of an atom are known as subatomic particles. An atom can be divided into two parts, the central part is known as the nucleus. The nucleus comprises particles known as protons and neutrons. Neutrons and protons take up the space inside the nucleus. The outer region of the nucleus has multiple orbital structures that hold particles known as electrons that revolve around the nucleus in an atom.

HISTORY

The term “atom” has been derived from the Greek word “Atomos” which means “indivisible”. The first founders of this term were the Greek and Indian philosophers who thought this (an atom) to be the basic and smallest unit or particle for all the matter present in this universe. In the early 19th century, scientists researched and understood the whole structure of an atom. The atomic model that we study and use today was proposed by Erwin Schrodinger in the year 1926.

After this many, more theories and models for atoms have come forward in the past years. What we came to know by this is that there are a lot of atoms, each with a different name, mass, size, and count of subatomic substances which are together known as elements. Therefore, in other words, we can say that an atom can be said to be the smallest and the most basic unit of an element. There are in total 92 natural elements and 118 man-made ones.

ELECTRONS

Electrons are negatively charged subatomic particles that revolve around the nucleus in orbital structures known as shells. Carries a negative charge and is capable of getting transferred from one atom to another.

PROTONS

The protons are the positively charged subatomic particles that form a part inside a nucleus and which are similar in weight to that of a Neutron.

NEUTRONS

A neutron has no charge but it is similar in mass as compared to the protons present inside the nucleus. Both protons and neutrons have almost the same mass which is defined as one atomic mass unit or one Dalton.

THEORIES ON ATOMIC STRUCTURE

Dalton’s atomic theory

John Dalton was an English chemist and scientist who coined a theory of the atomic structure of atoms. According to him all the matter which is made up of atoms is indivisible. He suggested that every matter is made up of atoms and is indestructible. According to him, all the atoms in elements are made up of the same and similar items whereas different items of different elements present in nature will have different sizes and mass altogether.

According to his postulates,

•       Every single matter is made up of the smallest unit which is known as atoms
•       Atoms are invisible and indestructible
•       All the atoms of a single element are exactly the same but the atoms of different elements will have different sizes and mass
•       Every single item has its own mass which is constant but that it varies from element to element
•       Every atom undergoes a rearrangement cycle when it expert in a chemical reaction
•       Atoms can never be created or never be destroyed
•       Atoms can be transformed into another form that is different from their original one

The theory of Dalton which was Dalton’s atomic theory explained the law of chemical reaction which was later known as the law of conservation of mass or law of constant properties or the law of multiple proportions in chemistry

Drawbacks of Dalton’s atomic theory

According to Dalton’s atomic theory, the basic structure of the atom was defined but there were demerits and drawbacks

That is atomic theory failed to explain the emergence and existence of isotopes

•     The structure of the atom was not efficiently explained in depth

The later experiments and theories included Thomson’s atomic model that came up in the year 1900 which explains the discovery of electrons through his experiment known as the cathode Ray experiment.

SOME FACTS ABOUT ELECTRONS PROTONS AND NEUTRONS

•       Electrons are negatively charged by the subatomic particles’ data present outside the nucleus and it revolves in the orbital structure
•       Neutrons are the uncharged particles that are present inside the nucleus along with the protons
•       Protons are the positively charged subatomic particles present inside the nucleus along with neutrons
•       Both the protons and neutrons have an approximately similar mass which is about 1.67 x 10–²⁴ which in other words can be said to be one atomic mass unit (AMU) or one Dalton
•       All the electrons inside an atom are arranged according to their energy levels
•       Electrons have the ability to move or travel at the speed of light with an approximate value
•       A proton is a very little mass which is about one atomic mass unit and also approximately the same as a Neutron but the size of a proton depends on the vibration made by the quarks present inside it
•       The neutrons inside the nucleus are also very small in nature and are also made from quarks
•       Neutrons are somewhere heavier than protons and are made from three quarks

CONCLUSION

Electrons are the lightest and the most stable atomic particle known in nature. No matter how many electrons are present in an atom, each one of them will have exactly the same amount of energy as the other. A proton is a very little mass which is about one atomic mass unit and also approximately the same as a Neutron but the size of a proton depends on the vibration made by the quarks present inside it.