Atomic Structure and Periodic Table

Question 1

What particles are found in the nucleus of an atom?

Answer 1

Contained in the nucleus are the protons and neutrons.

Question 2

What are the relative masses and charges of protons, neutrons, and electrons?

Answer 2

proton 1 +1
neutron 1 0
electron Very small -1

Question 3

Why do atoms have no overall charge?

Answer 3

Overall, atoms have no charge; they have the same number of protons as electrons.

Question 4

What is an ion, and how does it differ from a neutral atom?

Answer 4

An ion is a charged particle - it does not have an equal number of protons to electrons.

Question 5

What is the difference between the atomic number and the mass number of an atom?

Answer 5

Atomic Number and Mass Number

Question 6

What is an element?

Answer 6

Elements are made of atoms with the same atomic number.

Question 7

What are the chemical symbols for nitrogen, fluorine, zinc, and calcium?

Answer 7

N = nitrogen F = fluorine Zn = zinc Ca = calcium

Question 8

What is an isotope, and how do isotopes of the same element differ from each other?

Answer 8

Isotopes – an isotope is an element
with the same number of protons
but a different number of neutrons.
They have the same atomic number,
but different mass number.

Question 9

What is a compound, and how are the elements in a compound held together? Provide examples of compounds and their chemical formulas.

Answer 9

Compounds – a compound is when two or more elements are chemically joined.
Examples of compounds are carbon dioxide and magnesium oxide. Some examples of
formulas are CO2, NaCl, HCl, H20, Na2SO4. They are held together by chemical bonds and
are difficult to separate.

Question 10

What is the equation to find the relative atomic mass

Answer 10

sum of (isotope abundance × isotope mass number) / sum of abundances of all isotopes