Atomic Structure: Protons, Electrons & Neutrons

In the video above we discovered that all atoms in the periodic table are made of only three types of particles:

protons

,

electrons

and

neutrons

, the whole world, in fact, it's amazing, we know that heavy

protons

and

neutrons

live in the center of atoms called the nucleus, the proton. carries a positive electrical charge and the neutron is neutral the light

electrons

buzz around the outside of the nucleus and trace the shape of a fuzzy ball they carry a negative electrical charge we can show the electrons in motion but it will be easier to keep them still In this video we can still learn important things about atoms simplifying the real picture.

Let's imagine we have a bunch of each of these particles and then build some atoms from scratch. What is the simplest and lightest atom we can think of? It must be the one with an

atomic

number of one. Did I hear you say hydrogen? It makes sense that this atom is formed using only one proton. How many electrons does a hydrogen atom need? Have you noticed that the things around us are not electrically charged most of the time? If you can't stand on end about static electricity, that means that atoms are generally neutral, so the positive charge of the proton must be exactly canceled by the negative charge of one electron and only one electron, the number of protons and electrons must be the same.

Same thing, a hydrogen atom has one proton and one electron, the number of protons is equal to the number of electrons and this is true for all atoms, what is the next atom on the periodic table? Helium to form a helium atom requires 2 protons and how many electrons do we have 2. I just learned that two advantages and two disadvantages are neutral in general, but we have a problem with the piston. The two protons in the nucleus have the same charge. Why is this a problem? They will repel each other and the nucleus will separate. This is where the neutrons come in.

The helpful neutrons provide a little extra glue to hold the core together. There is an additional force of attraction belonging to the nucleus called the strong nuclear force that works only between nuclear particles. Without this force, the core would disintegrate. Who again, by the way, if they don't say it? You'll be talking about the strong nuclear force until you get to college, so this is kind of a trailer for you. A hydrogen atom does not need a neutron. Why does it have only one proton in its nucleus? So as not to feel any repulsive force from nearby protons. hydrogen is the only atom that can do this, all other atoms must have neutrons in their nucleus to hold it together, but from now on we will ignore neutrons in the construction of our atoms to make our video easier to follow, let's remember Since neutrons are found in all atoms that have more than one proton, how can we make the third lithium atom have three protons and three electrons?

That's right, but we have another problem. Houston electrons live in shells that are wrapped around the nucleus and the first. The shell can take only two electrons before filling up, so lithium has too many electrons to fit them all into the first shell. Fortunately, there are many shells available, so after two electrons filled the first shell, the extra electron can move to the next shell in this second shell. The shell is larger than the first and can accept up to eight electrons. It's like a strange hotel that only has two beds on the first floor, so after booking two guests, the extra guests have to be sent upstairs, to the second floor of the hotel. has fake beds, so after the next eight reserved guests on this floor are also full, a lithium atom has three protons in its nucleus, two electrons in its first shell and one electron in its second shell, the amount of electrons in each shell is incredibly important because it affects the properties of the element and how it will behave in the world.

For example, lithium is a metal because it has a single electron in its outer shell. We will explain how this happens later. It is called the number of electrons in each shell. shell of an atom its electron configuration you should ask your parents if they know what electron configuration means. They are really interesting words to learn. The electronic configuration of lithium is two electrons in the first shell and one electron in the second shell or sometimes scientists simply write two commas. Long story short, we're on a roll here, what is atom number four and how many protons and electrons does it have and where do they live?

Did you say beryllium with four protons and four electrons with the four protons living in its nucleus two electrons in its first shell and two in its second shell if so can you go to grade 11 in high school beryllium the electron configuration is 2 point 2 2 electrons in the first shell and 2 electrons in the second shell the next Adam is number five boron has five protons and five electrons two electrons in its first shell and three electrons in its second shell its electronic configuration is 2 point 3 number six carbon six protons and six electrons their electronic configuration is two four do you notice a pattern here? the number of the atom its

atomic

number is always the same as the number of protons in its nucleus.

Earlier we learned that atomic number meant an atom's place in the list of atoms from lightest to heaviest. When scientists discovered these subatomic particles, they realized that the atomic number was also exactly the same. to the number of protons in the nucleus means that the identity of an atom, that is, whether it is hydrogen, aluminum or gold, depends only on how many protons are in its nucleus. The atomic number of an atom is equal to the number of protons in its nucleus. we could have defined the atomic number as the number of electrons, since it is the same as the number of protons in an atom;

However, sometimes electrons may be stripped from the outer shell of an atom or an atom may capture an extra electron or two, so this number of electrons may vary from time to time. The protons live in the nucleus, which is isolated from the outside world and their numbers do not vary. This is usually a better definition. Let's use the rest of our protons and electrons. Number seven. Nitrogen. Seven protons. and seven electrons electron configuration two five two electrons in the first shell and five in the second shell number eight oxygen eight protons and eight electrons electron configuration two six two electrons in the first shell and six in the second shell 9 fluorine nine protons and nine electrons electronic configuration: seven electrons in the first shell and seven in the second shell number 10 nyan 10 protons and 10 electrons Tron configuration 2 8 two electrons in the first shell and eight in the second shell remember how many electrons the second shell can take before it is full eight, this means that the second shell of the neon is full, this has important consequences for the neon and in a non-reactive noble gas, we will explain why this happens later, can you guess what might happen if we had another proton and electron?

This we have just built atoms of the first ten elements in the periodic table, each one has a different number of protons and electrons and also a different electronic configuration. As you learn more about atoms you will discover that these elements are what they are because of these protons and electrons and how they will bond together, for example hydrogen is an explosive gas because it has only one electron in its outer shell and helium is an unexploded gas because it has two electrons in its outer shell and lithium is a shiny metal because it has a two-one electron configuration, we will explain how this works later our world is the way it is because of these small subatomic particles and how they are arranged because to the atomic

structure