Elements the Periodic Table and the hidden structure of atoms.

 

How to succeed in Chemistry

Work in short bursts. You should be able to go through the content of this post in about 20 minutes. Don’t rush, there is some thinking involved. Don’t move onto the next stage until you are confident with this material. Take the test in a separate post when you are ready

Introduction for numpties

No matter how difficult Chemistry may seem the whole subject is based on simple ideas. Chemists only work with three types of particle, atoms molecules and ions. Once you understand the forces that hold these particles together and how they react with each other you can call yourself a chemist. We will start with atoms and ions and deal with molecules later. How do we identify atoms

Elements

Elements are pure substances that are made up of only one type of atom. Each element has a unique identifying number known as its atomic number. 

When the elements are listed in order of increasing atomic number in table form interesting patterns appear. Elements in vertical columns on the periodic table have similar properties. Work through the Prezi featuring elements in the first column and elements from the last two columns. 

 

beckham 7The Atomic number

The Atomic Number identifies an atom, If we see a number 7 on the back of a  Manchester United shirt we know its Beckham and we know he can bend the ball in flight

If we see an atom with an atomic number of 7 attached we know it is nitrogen and it is a gas that makes up 78% of the air we breathe. Every atom in the squad of elements that make up the periodic table has its own atomic number.

For example the atomic number of a lithium atom is three.The atomic number of a Sodium atom is 11. The atomic number of Potassium atom is 19. These three elements are found in the first column of the periodic table. Elements are arranged in rows on the table with the atomic number increasing by 1 as you move across. There are 18 columns in the periodic table. Elements in the same column have similar physical and chemical properties.
Open up the interactive periodic table and click on the red elements to view videos showing how the elements react. Elements in the same column have similar properties. You should be familiar enough with the table to try the test at the end of this post.

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