ATOMS = BUILDING BLOCKS

Atoms are the basis of chemistry. They are the basis for everything in the Universe. You should start by remembering that matter is composed of atoms. Atoms and the study of atoms are a world unto themselves. We're going to cover basics like atomic structure and bonding between atoms.

There are three basic parts of an atom. The parts are the electrons, protons, and neutrons. What are electrons, protons, and neutrons? A picture works best. You have a basic atom. There are three pieces to an atom. There are electrons, protons, and neutrons. That's all you have to remember. Three things! As you know, there are over 100 elements in the periodic table. The thing that makes each of those elements different is the number of electrons, protons, and neutrons. The protons and neutrons are always in the center of the atom. Scientists call the center of the atom the nucleus. The electrons are always found whizzing around the center in areas called orbitals.

You can also see that each piece has either a "+", "-", or a "0." That symbol refers to the charge of the particle. You know when you get a shock from a socket, static electricity, or lightning? Those are all different types of electric charges. There are even charges in tiny particles of matter like atoms. The electron always has a "-" or negative charge. The proton always has a "+" or positive charge. If the charge of an entire atom is "0", that means there are equal numbers of positive and negative pieces, equal numbers of electrons and protons. The third particle is the neutron. It has a neutral charge (a charge of zero).

LOOKING AT IONS

We've talked about ions before. Now it's time to get down to basics. Ions are atoms with either extra electrons or missing electrons. A normal atom is called a neutral atom. That term describes an atom with a number of electrons equal to the atomic number.

What do you do if you are a sodium (Na) atom? You have eleven electrons, one too many to have your shell filled. You need to find another element who will take that electron away from you. Bring in chlorine (Cl). Chlorine (Cl) will take that electron away and leave you with 10 electrons inside of two filled shells. You are a happy atom. Now you are also an ion and missing one electron. You are a sodium ion (Na+). You have one less electron than your atomic number.

So now you've become a sodium ion (Na+). Now you have ten electrons. That's the same number as neon (Ne). But you aren't neon (Ne). Since you're missing an electron you aren't really a complete sodium (Na) atom either. You are now something completely new. An ion. Your whole goal as an atom was to become a "happy atom" with completely filled electron orbitals. Now you have those filled shells. You are stable. What do you do that's so special now? Now that you have given up the electron, you are quite electrically attractive. Other electrically charged atoms (ions) are now looking at you and seeing a good partner to bond with. That's where chlorine comes in.

COMPOUND BASICS

Compounds are groups of two or more elements that are bonded together. There are two main types of bonds that hold those atoms together, covalent and electrovalent/ionic bonds. Covalent compounds happen when the atoms share the electrons, and ionic compounds happen when electrons are donated from one atom to another.

CHEMICAL BONDING

. Scientists also call ionic bonds electrovalent bonds. Ionic bonds are just groups of charged ions held together by electric forces. Scientists call these groups ionic agglomerates. When in the presence of other ions, the electrovalent bonds are weaker because of outside electrical forces and attractions.

Look at sodium chloride (table salt) as an example. Salt is a very strong bond when it is sitting on your table. It would be nearly impossible to break those ionic bonds. However, if you put that salt into some water the bonds break very quickly. It happens easily because of the electrical attraction of the water. Now you have sodium (Na+) and chloride (Cl-) ions. Remember that ionic bonds are normally strong but very weak in water.

NEUTRON MADNES

We have already learned that ions are atoms that are either missing or have extra electrons. Let's say an atom is missing a neutron or has an extra neutron. That type of atom is called an isotope. An atom is still the same element if it is missing an electron. The same goes for isotopes. They are still the same element. They are just a little different from every other atom of the same element.

There are a lot of carbon atoms in the universe. The normal ones are carbon-12. Those atoms have 6 neutrons. There are a few straggler atoms that don't have 6. Those odd ones may have 7 or even 8 neutrons. As you learn more chemistry, you will probably hear about carbon-14. Carbon-14 actually has 8 neutrons (2 extra). C-14 is considered an isotope of the element carbon