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4: Atoms and Periodic table

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    494718
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    • 4.1: Atomic Theory
      The smallest piece of an element that maintains the identity of that element is called an atom. Individual atoms are extremely small. It would take about fifty million atoms in a row to make a line that is 1 cm long. The period at the end of a printed sentence has several million atoms in it. Atoms are so small that it is difficult to believe that all matter is made from atoms-but it is.
    • 4.2: Elements and Atomic number
      The modern atomic theory states that atoms of one element are the same, while atoms of different elements are different. What makes atoms of different elements different? The fundamental characteristic that all atoms of the same element share is the number of protons.
    • 4.3: Mass number
      Rutherford showed that the vast majority of the mass of an atom is concentrated in its nucleus, which is composed of protons and neutrons. The mass number is defined as the total number of protons and neutrons in an atom. It can be calculated by adding the number of neutrons and the number of protons (atomic number) together.
    • 4.4: Isotopes
      Not all atoms of a given element are identical. Specifically, the number of neutrons can be variable for many elements. As an example, naturally occurring carbon exists in three forms. Each carbon atom has the same number of protons (6), which is its atomic number. Each carbon atom also contains six electrons in order to maintain electrical neutrality. However the number of neutrons varies.
    • 4.5: Periodic Table
      The periodic table is one of the cornerstones of chemistry because it organizes all the known elements on the basis of their chemical properties. Most periodic tables provide additional data (such as atomic mass) in a box that contains each element’s symbol. The elements are listed in order of atomic number.
    • 4.6: Valence vs Core Electrons
      It should be stressed that there is a connection between the number of protons in an element, the atomic number that distinguishes one element from another, and the number of electrons it has. In all electrically neutral atoms, the number of electrons is the same as the number of protons. Thus, each element, at least when electrically neutral, has a characteristic number of electrons equal to its atomic number.
    • 4.7: Content in context


    4: Atoms and Periodic table is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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