Activity 2: Atom and Atomic Structure

Oxygen Atom Model:
The golf ball represents the neutron, which contains 8 protons and 8 neutrons. The marbles represent the electrons.

Helium Atom Model:
The golf ball represents the nucleus of the atom which contains 2 protons and 2 neutrons. The marbles represent the electrons.

Hydrogen Atom Model:
The golf ball represents the nucleus of the atom which contains one proton and one neutron. The marble represents the electron.

1. What is the atomic number for each of your models?

a.      Hydrogen: 1

b.     Oxygen: 8

c.      Helium: 2

2.     What is the atomic mass number for each of your models?

a.      Hydrogen: 1.0079

b.     Oxygen: 15.9994

c.      Helium: 4.0026

3.     In your models, which two subatomic particles are equal in number?

a.      The proton and the neutron are equal in number.

4.     How would you make an isotope for one of your models?  What would change with the model?

a.      The model would have the same number of protons and electrons, but it would have a different number of neutrons

5.     Considering the overall volume of your element models, what makes up most of the volume of an atom?

a.      The electron cloud takes up most of the volume of an atom, and is mostly empty space.

6.     For one of your models, show with another image what happens when energy excites an electron.

a.      

7.     Once the electron is excited, what do we typically observe when the electron returns to the ground-state?

a.      The electron returns to a state of lower energy, known as decay.

8.     Why are some elements different colors when they are excited? Hint: when electrons are excited (by something like heat from an explosive) they move up to another orbital and when they fall back they release the energy in the form of light.

a.      Excited electrons emit certain wavelengths corresponding with different colors. The light is observed as colored lines with dark negative space in between. Each element produces a different set of these, known as spectral lines.

9.     With the Fourth of July coming up quickly, explain how the colors of fireworks arise.

a.      Different reactive metallic elements produce the different colors. When the element is heated, the metal atoms absorb the heat, exciting the atom, and release the energy producing the different colored lights.

10.   Explain the overall organizational structure of the periodic table.

a.      The periodic table is organized by atomic number, electron configurations, and chemical properties. There are 18 columns and7 rows with two rows of elements below. The rows are periods and the columns are groups, which have special names describing their relationships, such as noble gases. There are also regions referred to as blocks, which groups elements by the electron shells.

11.   List two example elements for each of these groups or classes:

a.      Alkali Metals:

                                               i.     Lithium

                                             ii.     Sodium

b.     Alkaline Earth:

                                               i.     Magnesium

                                             ii.     Calcium

c.      Halogens:

                                               i.     Fluorine

                                             ii.     Iodine

d.      Noble Gases:

                                               i.     Xenon

                                             ii.     Radon

e.      Transition Metals:

                                               i.     Iridium

                                             ii.     Iron

f.      Non-Metals:

                                               i.     Oxygen

                                             ii.     Nitrogen

g.     Metalloids:

                                               i.     Born

                                             ii.     Silicon