Structure 1.

2
Answers
IB CHEMISTRY SL
Structure 1.2.1
Understandings:
• Atoms contain a positively charged, dense nucleus composed of protons and
neutrons (nucleons). Negatively charged electrons occupy the space outside the
nucleus.
Learning outcomes:
• Use the nuclear symbol to deduce the number of protons, neutrons and electrons
in atoms and ions.
Additional notes:
• Relative masses and charges of the subatomic particles should be known; actual
values are given in the data booklet. The mass of the electron can be considered
negligible.

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Structure of the atom and the sub-atomic particles
• The three sub-atomic particles are the proton, neutron and the electron.
• Protons and neutrons (nucleons) are located in the nucleus of the atom.
• The nucleus is very dense as it contains almost all of the mass of an atom.
• The electrons are located in energy levels (principal energy levels) within the
atom.
• Atoms are electrically neutral because they have the same number of protons and
electrons.

Exercises:

1. Complete the table below:

Particle Relative mass Relative charge

Proton 1 +1

Neutron 1 No charge (neutral)

Electron 1/2000 -1

2. Explain why the nucleus is the most dense part of the atom.
The nucleus contains the protons and neutrons (nucleons) that have higher much
masses than the electrons that are found in energy levels around the nucleus.

3. Explain why atoms are electrically neutral.

Atoms contain equal numbers of positive protons and negative electrons which
makes them electrically neutral (they have no overall charge).

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Atomic number (Z) and mass number (A)
• The atomic number (or proton number) is the number of protons in the nucleus of
an atom.
• The mass number is the number of protons and neutrons (nucleons) in the
nucleus of an atom.
• To find the number of neutrons in the nucleus of an atom, subtract the atomic
number from the mass number (A – Z).
• The notation used for the atomic number and mass number is shown below (the
nuclear symbol notation).

𝐴 19 19
𝑍X 9F F
• X is the symbol of the element Note that the atomic number is
• Z is the atomic number (or proton sometimes omitted; it can be
number) found by looking on the periodic
• A is the mass number (or nucleon table.
number)

Example: The nuclear symbol for helium-4 is 42He. Its atomic number is 2 and its mass
number is 4. It has 2 protons and 2 neutrons in its nucleus.

4
2He

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Exercises
1. Outline what the atomic number and mass number tell us about an atom.
The atomic number, Z, is the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom.
The mass number, A, is the number of protons and the number of neutrons in the
nucleus of an atom.

2. Write the nuclear symbol notations for magnesium-24 and iron-54.

24 54
12Mg 26Fe

3. Deduce the number of protons, neutrons and electrons in the following atoms.

Atom Atomic Mass Number of Number of Number of

number number protons neutrons electrons
2
1H 1 2 1 1 1
14
6C 6 14 6 8 6
14
7N 7 14 7 7 7
40
20Ca 20 40 20 20 20
37
17Cl 17 37 17 20 17
79
35Br 35 79 35 44 35
206
82Pb 82 206 82 124 82
235
92U 92 235 92 143 92

4. Deduce the number of protons, neutrons and electrons in the following ions.

Ion Atomic Mass Number of Number of Number of

number number protons neutrons electrons
40 2+
20Ca 20 40 20 20 18
27 3+
13Al 13 27 13 14 10
35 −
17Cl 17 35 17 18 18
14 3−
7N 7 14 7 7 10

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Structure 1.2.2
Understandings:
• Isotopes are atoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons.
Learning outcome(s):
• Perform calculations involving non-integer relative atomic masses and abundance
of isotopes from given data.
Additional notes:
• Differences in the physical properties of isotopes should be understood.

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Isotopes
• Isotopes are atoms of the same element that have the same number of protons
(same atomic number, Z) but different numbers of neutrons (different mass number,
A).
• The two isotopes shown below, carbon-12 (12C) and carbon-14 (14C), have the
same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons.

12 14
6C 6C
6 protons 6 protons
6 neutrons 8 neutrons
6 electrons 6 electrons

Exercise: Deduce the number of protons, neutrons and electrons in the following
isotopes.

Isotope Atomic Mass Number of Number of Number of

number number protons neutrons electrons
10
5B 5 10 5 5 5
11
5B 5 11 5 6 5
16
8O 8 16 8 8 8
17
8O 8 17 8 9 8

Physical and chemical properties of isotopes

• Isotopes have the same number of electrons, therefore they have identical
chemical properties.
• Isotopes have different numbers of neutrons; therefore, their masses are different.
• Isotopes have different physical properties such as density and boiling point.

Isotope Boiling point (K) Melting point (K) Density (g cm-3)

1
1H 20.4 14.0 0.09

2
1H 23.7 18.7 0.18

3
1H 25.0 20.6 0.27

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Relative atomic mass (Ar)
• The mass of atoms is so small (in the range of 10-24 to 10-22 kg) therefore a
relative scale is used.
• The standard for the relative scale is carbon-12, which is given a relative mass of
exactly 12.00.
• The relative atomic mass is the weighted average mass of an atom compared to
an atom of the isotope carbon-12.
• Relative atomic masses do not have units because it is a relative scale.

The mass spectrometer

• A mass spectrometer is used to determine the isotopes of an element, together
with their relative abundances.
• The relative abundance of an isotope is the percentage of atoms with a specific
atomic mass found in a naturally occurring sample of an element.
• A mass spectrometer produces a mass spectrum which shows relative abundance
on the y-axis against mass to charge ratio (m/z) on the x-axis. The mass spectrum
for lead (Pb) is shown below.

Exercise: Based on the mass spectrum above, is the relative atomic mass of lead likely
to be closer to 204 or 208? Explain your answer.
The relative atomic mass is likely to be closer to 208 because the isotope 208Pb has the
highest relative abundance of 52%.

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Calculating relative atomic mass, Ar

• To calculate the relative atomic mass of an element, multiply the mass of each
isotope by its relative abundance, add together for all the isotopes, and then
divide by 100.
• For example, to calculate the relative atomic mass of an element with two
isotopes:

(mass of isotope 1 × % abundance) + (mass of isotope 2 × % abundance)

𝐴𝑟 =
100

Exercises:
1. Rhenium has two naturally occurring isotopes with the following percentage
abundances. Calculate the relative atomic mass of rhenium to two decimal places.
Isotope % abundance
185Re 37.40
187Re 62.60

(185 × 37.40) + (187 × 62.60)

𝐴𝑟 =
100
𝐴𝑟 = 186.25
2. Europium has two naturally occurring isotopes, Europium-151 and Europium-153,
and a relative atomic mass of 151.96. Calculate the percentage abundance of
each isotope of europium.

151𝑥 + 153 (100 − 𝑥)

153.96 =
100
𝑥 = 52%
Europium-153 = 48 %

Europium-151 = 52 %

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