atoms

what holds an atom together?

the electrostatic forces of attraction between the oppositely charged sub-particles - the protons and the electrons - act like a magnet as the protons attract the electrons and the electrons attract the protons keeping the atom bound together.

Within the nucleus, the strong nuclear force attracts the nuclear particles together - if a proton is outside another’s ‘exclusion zone’ then it will experience the electrostatic force of repulsion BUT if a proton is within the exclusion zone then they are attracted to each other

ie the strong nuclear force »»» electrostatic repulsion

ISOTOPES —> what are they?

Isotopes are different forms of the same element

• they have the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons. Because of this they then have very similar chemical properties but different physical properties including nuclear stability and mass.

A radioisotope is when the electrostatic repulsion > nuclear force causing radioactive decay

Relative Atomic Mass (RAM):

mass number = (abundance % x atomic mass) + (abundance % x atomic mass)…. /100

(keep on adding for however many isotopes there are)