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CPT: Atomic structure and the Periodic Table

CPT0: Introduction
1- The air around us, the water and all other materials are called matter
because they have mass and they can occupy space. The smallest particle
of matter is called an atom.

2- Atomic structure means you should be able to draw a labelled diagram of the
parts of an atom; namely:
● The nucleus containing:
○ The protons—having a positive charge;
○ And the neutrons—without charge.
● The shells containing:
○ The electrons—having a negative charge.

3- Atoms differ in sizes, depending on their proton numbers; meaning, on how

many protons they have. For example:
● A hydrogen (₁H) atom has only 1 proton. So it is the smallest type of atom.
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● An oxygen (₈O) atom has 8 protons. So it is larger and heavier than the
hydrogen atom.
● A calcium (₂₀Ca) atom has 20 protons. So it is larger and heavier than both
the hydrogen and oxygen atoms.

Exercise 1
1- Why are all materials called matter?
2- Name the smallest particle of matter.
3- Which subatomic particles (or parts of the atom) are found inside the nucleus?
State the charge of each.
4- How many protons does each of the following substances have:
a) Fluorine (₉F)
b) Chlorine (₁₇Cl)
c) Magnesium (₁₂Mg)?
5- Draw a diagram to show the arrangement of electrons in each of the atoms in
number 4.

CPT1: Elements, compounds and mixtures

The Periodic Table is usually called the Periodic Table of Elements. This is
because every substance that appears on it is an element. For example, the
substances hydrogen, oxygen, iron and copper are elements.

But what is an element?

It is a substance that contains one type of atom only, without being
combined or mixed with other types of atoms.

Compounds
Sometimes atoms of different substances are chemically combined together in a
fixed ratio to form a completely new substance called a compound.

For example:
● When 2 hydrogen atoms are combined with 1 oxygen atom (in the ratio of
2:1) the compound formed is called water (H₂O).
● But when they combine in a different ratio (like 2:2) we get a different
compound called hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂).
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Though water is a compound of hydrogen and oxygen, it has characteristics

which are different from both hydrogen and oxygen. For example, hydrogen
and oxygen naturally exist as gases at room temperature, but water is a liquid
(having a higher density than both hydrogen and oxygen).

Mixtures
An example of a mixture is adding a teaspoon of salt to a glass of water, or if we
want we can choose to vary the amount of salt (like 2, 3 or 7 teaspoons)
added to the same glass of water. So a mixture consists of 2 or more
substances added together in a variable composition (unlike the
compound which must be in a fixed ratio).

How are compounds different from mixtures?

In terms of: Compounds Mixtures

1- Composition They have fixed They have variable

composition or ratio. composition.

2- Characteristics They have different Their characteristics are

characteristics from similar to those of the
those of the substances substances from which
from which they were they were formed (e.g.
formed (e.g. both salt and water mixture
sodium and chlorine appears like water and
have low melting tastes like salt).
points, but they form
sodium chloride which
has a high melting point;
also, sodium is shiny
when freshly cut while
chlorine is yellowish
green, but sodium
chloride appears as a
white crystalline solid).

3- Reversibility They are usually hard to They are easy to reverse

reverse or break down or separate by using
(back to the original separation techniques
elements). or methods.
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Exercise 2
1- On a trip to the moon, a team of Basotho scientists discovered a new yellow
solid element they called Khilik (₇₀₉Kh).
a) What do we mean by saying Khilik is an element?
b) What does the number 709 represent?
c) The scientists brought the new element back to Earth, and tried adding it
to different substances. They noticed that when exposed to atmospheric
oxygen, it bursts into a flame to produce a black solid powder hard to
reverse, which they called Khilik Oxide.
i) State whether Khilik Oxide is an element, a compound or a mixture.
ii) Give 2 possible reasons for your answer in i).
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Change of state
What is an ice block made of? Water, right? Meaning, the chemical formula of ice
is still H₂O, just like that of liquid water or even water vapour.

We show these different states of water by adding state symbols, as seen

below:
● H₂O(s) for ice; where (s) represents solid state.
● H₂O(l) for water; where (l) represents liquid state.
● H₂O(g) for water vapour; where (g) represents gas state.

What happens when ice is placed in a beaker and heated on a Bunsen burner
flame?

1. At the beginning (at time 00:00), the thermometer will show a

temperature that is below 0°C (usually -4°C).
2. Then the temperature reading on the thermometer will rise,
showing that the ice or solid is getting hotter.
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3. Next, the temperature will remain constant at 0°C while the ice begins to
melt.
4. After some time all the ice will become a liquid, and the temperature
reading on the thermometer will start rising again, to show that the liquid
is getting hotter.
5. Finally, the temperature reading will remain constant again at
100°C while the liquid rapidly turns to gas (or boils).

Let us summarize these steps in a graph:

Different changes of state

1- Changes of state which occur during heating:
● Melting (solid to liquid)
● Vapourisation (liquid to gas)
2- Changes of state during cooling (if we start with a hot gas):
● Condensation (gas to liquid)
● Freezing (liquid to solid)
3- During melting and vapourisation the temperature of a substance remains
constant because the heat is being used to weaken or overcome forces of
attraction between the particles. During condensation and freezing the heat is
lost to the surroundings and stronger bonds are formed between the particles.
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Explaining why change of state takes place

1. Melting takes place because solid particles gain some kinetic energy,
vibrate more and weaken the forces of attraction between the particles.
2. Vapourisation takes place because liquid particles gain more kinetic
energy, move faster and overcome the forces of attraction between the
particles.
3. Condensation takes place because gas particles lose some of their
energy to the surroundings, move slowly and decrease the spaces between
the particles to form a liquid.
4. Freezing takes place because liquid particles lose more of their energy to
the surroundings, move more slowly and closer together, forming a solid.

Exercise 3
1- Each element in group VII of the Periodic Table, whether it is a gas, liquid or
solid, is diatomic; (meaning, it consists of 2 atoms). For example, a chlorine
molecule can be written as Cl₂.

From top to bottom, group VII elements are:

a) Fluorine gas
b) Chlorine gas
c) Bromine water
d) Iodine (solid)
e) and astatine (solid).

Use only state symbols and the formula of the molecule of each element to show
the above information.

2- Name the change of state that occurs to water that is left outside in “below
zero temperatures” on a winter night.

3 a) When ice is heated its temperature rises. What does this show?
b) At 0°C the temperature of the ice stops rising for a while, even though the ice
is still absorbing more heat. What happens to this heat?

4- Hot melted candle wax is left in a room in the morning. After 3 hours it is
found to be both cold and solid.
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a) Where has all its heat gone?

b) Use the kinetic theory of particles (meaning what happens to the particles
when they gain or lose some kinetic energy) to explain how the candle
wax became a solid.

5- A solid substance called “more fun” was placed in a beaker and heated over a
Bunsen burner flame. Each minute its temperature was measured. The results
are shown in the table below:

Time (minutes) Temperature (°C)

0 0

1 1

2 1

3 1

4 3

5 5

6 7

7 10

8 10

a) Plot a temperature (vertical axis) vs time (horizontal axis) graph to

represent the above results.
b) Hence, or otherwise, deduce:
i) The melting point of “more fun”.
ii) The boiling point of “more fun”.
iii) The physical state of “more fun” from 4 to 6 minutes.
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6- Another hot liquid substance, called “morning laughter”, is left on a desk in a

laboratory. Its temperature is measured every 5 minutes. The results are shown
in the table below:

Time (minutes) Temperature (°C)

0 120

5 90

10 80

15 70

20 60

25 55

30 35

35 35

40 35

a) Plot a temperature (vertical axis) vs time (horizontal axis) graph to

represent the above results.
b) During which 5-minute interval did the temperature of the substance drop
fastest? Give a reason for your answer.
c) Deduce the room temperature of the laboratory.
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Purity
Water that is mixed with other substances is said to be impure (even if it is still
clean for drinking).

So a pure substance is one that is separated from other substances.

The melting point of pure water is 0°C and its boiling point is 100°C, at sea level.

The effect of adding impurities on m.p. and b.p.

(In other words, what changes are produced on the m.p. and b.p. of a substance
when it is mixed with another substance?)

Adding another substance, for example salt, lowers the melting point of
water. Below 0°C ice or snow hardly melts. But when salt is added, it causes
the snow to melt even at a temperature below its melting point. That is
one way of removing snow from the roads in winter.

Also, adding another substance to water increases its boiling point. Water
ends up boiling over a range of higher temperatures (e.g. it can start boiling
from 103°C to 105°C, instead of just 100°C).

Method 1 of testing for purity

To test for the purity of a known substance, measure its fixed points (both
m.p. and b.p.).

We know it is pure if it melts at its usual m.p. and if it boils at its normal
b.p. But if there is a change in its fixed points, it can be concluded that it is
impure.

Method 2 of testing for purity

A second method of testing for the purity of a substance is by using
chromatography.

In the example below, 4 substances A, B, C and D were tested by putting a dot

of each on a filter paper (or chromatography paper). Then the filter paper was
placed in a solvent.
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The solvent caused substances A, B and D to move up the filter paper. This
means that they are soluble in this particular solvent. But substance C is
insoluble. That is why it remained at its original spot.

A and D are pure substances because they have only one spot each.

B is a mixture, meaning it is impure. This is because it has 2 dots, showing that it

contains 2 substances.
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Exercise 4
1 a) Steam is condensed to water during a distillation experiment.

Use the kinetic particle theory of matter to explain why energy must be
removed to condense a gas to form a liquid.
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................[2]

(b) Two liquids P and Q are cooled to form solids. The temperature and time are
recorded during each experiment and graphs are plotted, as shown below.

(i) Use the graphs to determine the melting point of P.

.................. °C [1]

(ii) Explain how these cooling curves show that P is a pure substance and that Q
is a mixture of substances.
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................[2]
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2- The drawings below represent the particles in six different substances at room
temperature and pressure.

Complete the table to show which one of the drawings, A to F, best represents
each of the following substances.

You may use each letter once, more than once or not at all.