Atomic Structure - The basics

Atomic structure is the study of how particles are arranged in an atom. To understand this, we need to know that atoms consist of 2 parts,
a)nucleus
b)electron shells.

The Nucleus
Simply put it, it is the part of the atom which you will find 2 kinds of particles, namely protons and neutrons.

Protons
Positively charged particle and it has a relative mass unit of 1.

Neutrons
Neutral and uncharged particle and it has a relative mass unit of 1.
Ok that basically sums up the particles found in the nucleus, lets go on to the electron shells.

Electron shells
Well as the name suggests, electrons are found here. Basically the electron shells are like holla hoops around a person and the electrons found in the electron shells spinning around the person at great speed. In an atom, the electron shells are found outside the nucleus and the electrons are spinning around the nucleus

Electrons
Negatively charged particles and have negligible mass compared to the other 2 particles.

A quick recap,

Subatomtic Particles Relative charge Relative mass Location
Proton +1 1 In the nucleus
Neutron 0 1 In the nucleus
Electrons -1 0 or 1/1840 Electron shells outside
nucleus

Cheers

Enjoy!


Entry by
Json Lim
http://www.oleveltuition.com/