Elemental form, atom

All Group IV elements form both a monoxide, MO, and a dioxide, MO2. The stability of the monoxide increases with atomic weight of the Group IV elements from silicon to lead, and lead(II) oxide, PbO, is the most stable oxide of lead. The monoxide becomes more basic as the atomic mass of the Group IV elements increases, but no oxide in this Group is truly basic and even lead(II) oxide is amphoteric. Carbon monoxide has unusual properties and emphasises the different properties of the group head element and its compounds. 

All Group IV elements form tetrachlorides, MX4, which are predominantly tetrahedral and covalent. Germanium, tin and lead also form dichlorides, these becoming increasingly ionic in character as the atomic weight of the Group IV element increases and the element becomes more metallic. Carbon and silicon form catenated halides which have properties similar to their tetrahalides. 

In this experiment a week of target bombardment was required to produce a single fused nucleus. The team confirmed the existence of element 109 by four independent measurements. The newly formed atom recoiled from the target at predicted velocity and was separated from smaller, faster nuclei by a newly developed velocity filter. The time of flight to the detector and the striking energy were measured and found to match predicted values. 

Atomization The most important difference between a spectrophotometer for atomic absorption and one for molecular absorption is the need to convert the analyte into a free atom. The process of converting an analyte in solid, liquid, or solution form to a free gaseous atom is called atomization. In most cases the sample containing the analyte undergoes some form of sample preparation that leaves the analyte in an organic or aqueous solution. For this reason, only the introduction of solution samples is considered in this text. Two general methods of atomization are used flame atomization and electrothermal atomization. A few elements are atomized using other methods. 

Atoms with the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons are called isotopes. To identify an isotope we use the symbol E, where E is the element s atomic symbol, Z is the element s atomic number (which is the number of protons), and A is the element s atomic mass number (which is the sum of the number of protons and neutrons). Although isotopes of a given element have the same chemical properties, their nuclear properties are different. The most important difference between isotopes is their stability. The nuclear configuration of a stable isotope remains constant with time. Unstable isotopes, however, spontaneously disintegrate, emitting radioactive particles as they transform into a more stable form. 

Tellurium is diamagnetic below its melting point. Its intrinsic electrical resistivity at room temperature is about 0.25 ohmcm, when the current is parallel to the i -axis, and decreases with increasing temperature and pressure. The element forms a continuous range of isomorphous solutions with selenium, consisting, in the soHd state, of chains of randomly alternating Se and Te atoms. 

Every atom contains a definite number of electrons. This number, which runs from 1 to more than 100, is characteristic of a neutral atom of a particular element All atoms of hydrogen contain one electron all atoms of the element uranium contain 92 electrons. We will have more to say in Chapter 6 about how these electrons are arranged relative to one another. Right now, you need only know that they are found in the outer regions of the atom, where they form what amounts to a cloud of negative charge. 

The law of multiple proportions This law, formulated by Dalton himself, was crucial to establishing atomic theory. It applies to situations in which two elements form more than one compound. The law states that in these compounds. the masses of one element that combine with a fixed mass of the second element are in a rath of small whole numbers. 

Unstable isotopes decompose (decay) by a process referred to as radioactivity. Ordinarily the result is the transmutation of elements the atomic number of the product nucleus differs from that of the reactant. For example, radioactive decay of produces a stable isotope of nitrogen, N. The radiation given off (Figure 2.6) may be in the form of—... 

Organic chemistry deals with the compounds of carbon, of which there are literally millions. More than 90% of all known compounds contain carbon atoms. There is a simple explanation for this remarkable fact. Carbon atoms bond to one another to a far greater extent than do atoms of any other element. Carbon atoms may link together to form chains or rings. 

In Chapter 5 we identified metals by their high electrical conductivity. Now we can explain why they conduct electric current so well. It is because there are some electrons present in the crystal lattice that are extremely mobile. These conduction electrons move throughout the metallic crystal without specific attachment to particular atoms. The alkali elements form metals because of the ease of freeing one electron per atom to provide a reservoir of conduction electrons. The ease of freeing these conduction electrons derives from the stability of the residual, inert gas-like atoms. 

The remaining four elements form molecular solids. The atoms of white phosphorus, sulfur, and chlorine are strongly bonded into small molecules (formulas, P4, S8, and Cl2, respectively) but only weak attractions exist between the molecules. The properties are all appropriate to this description. Of course there is no simple trend in the properties since the molecular units are so different. 

This special stability associated with the inert gas electron populations was found to pervade the chemistry of every element of the third row of the periodic table (see Section 6-6.2). Each element forms compounds in which it contrives to reach an inert gas electron population. Elements with a few more electrons than an inert gas are apt to donate one or two electrons to some other more needy atom. Elements with a few less electrons than an inert gas are apt to acquire one or two electrons or to negotiate a... 

We shall take up later in this chapter the factors that determine the magnitude of van der Waals forces. For the moment, we will merely observe that the elements forming van der Waals liquids and solids are concentrated in the upper right-hand comer of the periodic table (see Figure 17-1). These are the elements able to form stable molecules that satisfy completely the bonding capacity of each atom. 

The electronic structure of the chlorine atom (3s-3p ) provides a satisfactory explanation of the elemental form of this substance also. The single half-filled 3p orbital can be used to form one covalent bond, and therefore chlorine exists as a diatomic molecule. Finally, in the argon atom all valence orbitals of low energy are occupied by electrons, and the possibility for chemical bonding between the atoms is lost. 

When ionic bonds form, the atoms of one element lose electrons and the atoms of the second element gain them until both types of atoms have reached a noble-gas configuration. The same idea can be extended to covalent bonds. However, when a covalent bond forms, atoms share electrons until they reach a noble-gas configuration. Lewis called this principle the octet rule ... 

In a Born-Haber cycle, we imagine that we break apart the bulk elements into atoms, ionize the atoms, combine the gaseous ions to form the ionic solid, then form the elements again from the ionic solid (Fig. 6.32). Only the lattice enthalpy, the enthalpy of the step in which the ionic solid is formed from the gaseous ions, is unknown. The sum of the enthalpy changes for a complete Born-Haber cycle is zero, because the enthalpy of the system must be the same at the start and finish. 

The radius of an atom helps to determine how many other atoms can bond to it. The small radii of Period 2 atoms, for instance, are largely responsible for the differences between their properties and those of their congeners. As described in Section 2.10, one reason that small atoms typically have low valences is that so few other atoms can pack around them. Nitrogen, for instance, never forms penta-halides, but phosphorus does. With few exceptions, only Period 2 elements form multiple bonds with themselves or other elements in the same period, because only they are small enough for their p-orbitals to have substantial tt overlap (Fig. 14.6). 

The nuclei of some elements are stable, but others decay the moment they are formed. Is there a pattern to the stabilities and instabilities of nuclei The existence of a pattern would allow us to make predictions about the modes of nuclear decay. One clue is that elements with even atomic numbers are consistently more abundant than neighboring elements with odd atomic numbers. We can see this difference in Fig. 17.11, which is a plot of the cosmic abundance of the elements against atomic number. The same pattern occurs on Earth. Of the eight elements present as 1% or more of the mass of the Earth, only one, aluminum, has an odd atomic number. 

The elements are the simplest form of matter. An element contains only one type of atom and cannot be decomposed into other chemical components. Of the more than 100 known chemical elements, only a few are found in nature in their pure form. Figure J shows three of these Diamonds are pure carbon, nuggets of pure gold can be found by panning in the right stream bed, and sulfur is found in abundance in its elemental form. 

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