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Project in PCHM413L1
( Physical Principles 2 )
Prepared by:
John P. Bandoquillo
CH41FB1
Atomic Structure
Fundamentals of Physical Chemistry
Samuel H. Maron / Jerome B. Lando
Introduction
The first modern attempt at an explanation of
chemical reactivity of chemical elements is
Dalton’s atomic theory formulated in 1808.
Dalton postulated that every elements
consists of invisible particles called atoms,
each of which has the same mass for a given
elements, and that these atoms react with
each other to form compounds.
However, he made no effort to establish
any relation between the atoms of various
elements. This was first done in 1815 by
Prout, who reasoning from the proximity
of the atomic weights of elements to whole
numbers on the basis of hydrogen as unity,
suggested that all elements were composed
of multiples of hydrogen atoms.
Another important principle which indicated the
existence of a regular relationship among the
elements was the periodic law discovered
independently by Mendeléeff (1869) in Russia
and Lothar Meyer (1870) in Germany. This
law, that the chemical and physical properties of
the elements are periodic functions of their
atomic weights, pointed to regularities in the
structure of atoms and to the fact that certain
structures repeated themselves periodically to
yield similarity of chemical and physical
properties.
Finally, the electrical researches of
Nicholson and Carlisle, Davy, Berzelius and
Faraday showed that matter and electricity are
intimately associated and that electricity itself
is corpuscular in nature. These findings,
followed by studies of electric discharges
through rarefied gases and the discovery of
radioactivity, eventually established that atoms
consist of the same structural units. Primarily,
these are the electron, the proton and the
neutron.
The Electron
Gases are as a rule poor conductors of
electricity. However, when a tube filled with
gas is evacuated to pressures of 0.01 mm or
lower and an electric potential is applied
across a pair of electrodes sealed into the tube,
a discharge takes place between the electrodes
during which a stream of cathode rays is
emitted from the cathode.
The particles constituting the cathode rays
have been named electrons. The fact that
electrons are independent of the nature of the
source from which they come suggests that
they are constituents of all matter. From the
relations of the forces involved, the ratio of the
electron charge e to its mass m may then be
evaluated, and Thomson found thus e/m to be
1.79 x 10^7 electromagnetic units per gram.
More refined measurements have modified this
value to:
e/m = 1.75880 x 10^7 emu/g
= 1.75880 x 10^8 abs. coulombs/g
1 H 1 1.00782 99.985
2 2.0141 0.015
2 He 3 3.10603 10^ -5
4 4.0026 100
3 Li 6 6.01511 7.4
7 7.01599 92.6
4 Be 9 9.01217 100
5 B 10 10.01295 18.83
11 11.00942 81.17
6 C 12 12 98.892
13 13.00333 1.108
7 N 14 14.00307 99.64
15 15.00009 0.36
8 O 16 15.99491 99.76
17 16.00013 0.04
18 17.99916 0.2
From a study of the mass spectra it is
possible to deduce very precise values of the
atomic weights. The mass spectrograph also
reveals that many elements, which from
ordinary atomic weight determinations were
considered to consist of atom of the same
mass, are in reality mixtures of atoms of
different masses although of the same atomic
number. Such atoms of different mass but
same atomic number are called isotopes.
Hydrogen and Deuterium
Among the methods which have been employed to
separate or enrich isotopes are the mass
spectrograph, diffusion, centrifuging, thermal
diffusion, electrolysis, fractional distillation and
chemical exchange. It is of interest to point out the
differences found between ordinary hydrogen and
its heavier isotope deuterium, symbol D.
Deuterium was discovered spectroscopically in
1932 by Urey and his co-workers at Columbia
University.
In ordinary hydrogen gas deuterium is present
as about one part in 6600 parts of light
hydrogen. The heavier isotope is usually
concentrated by electrolysis of aqueous alkali
solutions, in which instance the lighter
hydrogen atoms escape more rapidly than the
heavier deuterium, and the solution becomes
more concentrated in D2O, heavy water. By
repeating the electrolysis a number of times,
pure D2O can be prepared and studied.
Comparison of Properties of Hydrogen Isotopes
Property H2 D2
Lyman 1 2, 3, 4… Ultraviolet
Balmer 2 3, 4, 5… Visible
Paschen 3 4, 5, 6… Infrared
Brackett 4 5, 6, 7… Infrared
Pfund 5 6, 7… Infrared
Bohr’s Theory of Atomic Structure
Bohr considered the atom to consist of a
nucleus with electrons revolving about it. Bohr
postulated that the only possible orbits for
electron revolution are those for which the
angular momentum is a whole number
multiple n of quantity (h/2π), h being Planck’s
constant. The second postulate introduces the
concept that there are definite energy levels or
stationary states within the atom in which an
electron possesses a definite and invariable
energy content.
Finally, Bohr assumed as his third postulate
that each line observed in the spectrum of an
element results from the passage of an electron
from an orbit in which the energy is E2 to one
of lower energy E1 and that this difference in
energy is emitted as a quantum of radiation of
frequency v in line with the equation
∆E = E2 –E1 = hv
Coulomb’s Law as Ze²/r²:
Ze²/r² = mv²/r
H 1 13.6 0 0 0 0
He 2 24.58 54.4 0 0 0