About this Interactive

Introduction

Goals

• Structure and function of atoms
• Structure and properties of matter

STRUCTURE OF ATOMS

• Matter is made of minute particles called atoms, and atoms are composed of even smaller components. These components have measurable properties, such as mass and electrical charge. Each atom has a positively charged nucleus surrounded by negatively charged electrons. The electric force between the nucleus and electrons holds the atom together.



• The atom's nucleus is composed of protons and neutrons, which are much more massive than electrons. When an element has atoms that differ in the number of neutrons, these atoms are called different isotopes of the element.



• The nuclear forces that hold the nucleus of an atom together, at nuclear distances, are usually stronger than the electric forces that would make it fly apart. Nuclear reactions convert a fraction of the mass of interacting particles into energy, and they can release much greater amounts of energy than atomic interactions. Fission is the splitting of a large nucleus into smaller pieces. Fusion is the joining of two nuclei at extremely high temperature and pressure, and is the process responsible for the energy of the sun and other stars.



• Radioactive isotopes are unstable and undergo spontaneous nuclear reactions, emitting particles and/or wavelike radiation. The decay of any one nucleus cannot be predicted, but a large group of identical nuclei decay at a predictable rate. This predictability can be used to estimate the age of materials that contain radioactive isotopes.

STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF MATTER

• Atoms interact with one another by transferring or sharing electrons that are furthest from the nucleus. These outer electrons govern the chemical properties of the element.



• An element is composed of a single type of atom. When elements are listed in order according to the number of protons (called the atomic number), repeating patterns of physical and chemical properties identify families of elements with similar properties. This "Periodic Table" is a consequence of the repeating pattern of outermost electrons and their permitted energies.



• Bonds between atoms are created when electrons are paired up by being transferred or shared. A substance composed of a single kind of atom is called an element. The atoms may be bonded together into molecules or crystalline solids. A compound is formed when two or more kinds of atoms bind together chemically.



• The physical properties of compounds reflect the nature of the interactions among its molecules. These interactions are determined by the structure of the molecule, including the constituent atoms and the distances and angles between them.



• Solids, liquids, and gases differ in the distances and angles between molecules or atoms and therefore the energy that binds them together. In solids the structure is nearly rigid; in liquids molecules or atoms move around each other but do not move apart; and in gases molecules or atoms move almost independently of each other and are mostly far apart.



• Carbon atoms can bond to one another in chains, rings, and branching networks to form a variety of structures, including synthetic polymers, oils, and the large molecules essential to life.

• Understand how our ideas about the atom and its structure progressed, how the Periodic Table developed, and how the Periodic Table gives us a way to visualize and organize the atoms that make up each element.



• Understand the structure of the atom and that it is made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons, as well as the characteristic properties of chemical elements, which are determined by their atomic structure, including their number of protons and the number of energy levels that are filled by electrons.



• Understand that atoms can take different forms (isotopes) based on the number of neutrons they have in their nucleus.



• Understand the concepts of atomic number and atomic mass and be able to calculate an atom's average relative mass.



• Describe the periodicity of the elements and how they can be divided into groups (the alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, noble gases, halogens, nitrogen family elements, carbon family elements, boron family elements, and transition metals, and rare earths), each with different properties based on the number of electrons in their highest energy level.



• Describe how elements can bond together based on these properties to form unique types of materials.

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Credits

Production Credits

Content Production

Interactive and Broadband Unit