Isotopes and Ions

Atoms- the base unit of any element, smallest piece of an element that still has the qualities of the element

Electrons- negatively charged particle that orbits the nucleus of an atom

Protons- positively charged particle located in the nucleus of an atom

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Ions- charged atoms

Cations- positively charged atoms/ions

  • lost electrons (more protons than electrons meaning more positive charges)

Anions- negatively charged atoms/ions

  • gained electrons (more electrons than protons meaning more negative charges)

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Atoms can lose/gain electrons only in chemical reactions when it steals an electron from/an electron is stolen by another atom/ion

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Neutrons- have a neutral charge and make up the nucleus with the protons

  • all elements have neutrons except hydrogen since it only has one proton
  • elements can vary in amounts of protons
  • amount of neutrons effects the atoms atomic mass

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Mass number: the amount of protons + neutrons in an atom

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Isotopes: atoms of the same element that have different numbers of neutrons

  • each has different atomic mass depending on the amount of neutrons
  • does not affect how the element chemically reacts

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Atomic mass: how much stuff in the atom measured in amu

  • weighted average of the atomic mass of each isotope of that element

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To find average atomic mass:

  • relative atomic mass of 1 isotope x percent abundance = weighted score

do this for each isotope, then add the weighted scores to get the atomic mass

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Example:

IsotopeMass (mass number if don’t have actual mass)Percent AbundanceWeighted Score
Carbon - 121298.8911.87
Carbon - 13131.110.14
Carbon - 14140.010.00
Atomic Mass of Carbon:12.01

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How to write isotopes:

element name - mass number

Element symbol:

  • mass number
  • atomic number
  • element symbol

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Carbon- 14 symbol:

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