atom: Smallest (about 10^-10 m) unit of matter, forming a specific element. It consists of: - nucleus: Small (about 10000 smaller than atom) but very dense (almost all atom weight) area containing nucleons, which are: - protons: positively charged particles - neutrons: particles without electric charge these are held together by nuclear force that overcomes electric force that otherwise pushes protons away from each other. - electron cloud: Contains electrons (negatively charged particles), that are attached to protons via electromagnetic force. The cloud is subdivided into shells (layers), which are subdivided into subshells: shell subshells max electrons ^ closer to nucleus -------------------------------------------- | lower energy 1 (K) 1s 2 > 2 = 2 | 2 (L) 2s 2 \ 2 + 6 = 8 2p 6 / 3 (M) 3s 2 \ 3p 6 > 2 + 6 + 10 = 18 3d 10 / 4 (N) 4s 2 \ 4p 6 \ ... = 32 4d 10 / 4f 14 / 5 (O) 5s 2 \ 5p 6 \ 5d 10 > ... = 50 5f 14 / 5g 18 / ... | | higher energy v further from nucleus The last (furthest) shell occupied by electrons is called valence shell and mostly determines chemical properties such as conductivity. Shells are filled from the innermost, but not generally -- with the higher ones the rule is more complex (so there can be non-filled non-valence shell). Each subshell can further take a form of one of possible orbitals, i.e. probability "shape" of where the electron can be found. Some subshells, e.g. 1s or 2s have only one possible orbital (shape) but others, e.g. 2p, have multiple (2px, 2py, 2pz). Atom has the same number of protons and electrons and so has a net electric charge 0, but can have different number of neutrons, forming different isotopes. electron configuration: Says the specific placement of electrons in (sub)shells. The lowest energy configuration is called a ground state, e.g. 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^1 for sodium, others are called excited states, e.g. 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3p^1. Transition between configurations consumes or emits energy (photons). isotope: Variant of the same atom, differing in number of neutrons (and weight), e.g. deuterium (helium with 2 neutrons, so called heavy hydrogen). ion: Is formed from an atom or molecule that has different number of electrons than protons, giving it either a positive or negative electric charge (e.g. after a collision with subatomic particle, radiation etc.). molecule: Electrically neutral group of multiple atoms held together by chemical bond. E.g. O2, H2O etc. chemical bond: Lasting bond that holds atoms together. Some types of bonds are: - covalent: Atoms share electrons, mostly electron pairs. Atoms want to fill the valent shell fully, so e.g. H2O is formed by O wanting 2 electrons (it has 8 electrons total, 2 in first shell, 6 out of 8 possible in the second valent shell, missing 2) and each O wants 1 (having 1 of 2 possible in the first shell), so they join to satisfy this. - mole: SI unit of substance amount, means exactly 6.02214076 * 10^23 particles. Elements are denoted as: Z <--- atomic number, the number of protons, e.g. 1 for hydrogen E <--- element name, e.g. H for hydrogen M <--- atomic mass (in grams/mole), e.g. 1.00794 for hydrogen periodic table of elements: Graphical ordering of elements in 2D table, it consists of: - groups: columns, there are 18 groups - periods: rows, there are 7 periods The table shows periodic trends (caused by number of electrons needed to fill the s, p, d and f subshells, which mostly determines chemical properties), i.e. repeating patterns, e.g.: - metalicity: towards bottom-left corner elements are more metalic - atomic radius: towards top-right corner elements have bigger atomic radius - ionization energy: towards top-right elements have more ionization energy